The borough council has said it will strongly oppose ‘disappointing’ proposed changes to Weymouth’s rail services. 

Councillors discussed the suggested changes to South Western Railway’s (SWR) timetable from December 2018 during a meeting of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s (WPBC) management committee. 

WPBC was contacted by SWR to provide a response as part of their ongoing consultation.

Proposed changes will mean Weymouth’s two trains per hour to London will be reduced to one and be around 13 minutes faster. A second slower train from Weymouth under the plan will run through to Southampton then divert to Portsmouth.

Cllr Colin Huckle, said: “Some of our smaller station miss out altogether, such as Upwey and Moreton. Anyone who has gone to London and come back at peak times knows the carriages are already sometimes overflowing. They promised a better service. We are very disappointed.”

Cllr Ray Nowak agreed. He said: “The connection to our county would be lost. It’s not good in terms of business, commerce or tourism.”

The council will now write to SWR to say that it strongly objects to the reduction in direct services.