Weymouth-Waterloo operator South Western Rail is laying on faster trains this Christmas so people can get home quicker.

The special ‘flyer’ train services will help the festive rush home from London, the firm says.

The services will be in operation on Friday, December 21 and on Friday, December 28.

SWR hopes they will convince car-owners to consider using the ‘flyer’ services to get back home for the festive season.

Chris Loder, Head of Service Strategy for South Western Railway, said: “We’re learning the lessons from previous years where we know many of our customers have travelled back for the festive season on the West of England and Weymouth lines earlier in the working day than they would normally.

“We’ve put on extra fast services that will cut down on journey times as we want to persuade customers not to drive home for Christmas, but instead use our ‘flyer’ trains.”

The flyer trains means the journey from London to Wareham will reduce by 11 or 20 minutes, to Dorchester South by 6 or 20 minutes and to Weymouth by 4 or 21 minutes.

On the West of England line the journey from London to Sherborne will reduce by 27 minutes and to Axminster by 22 minutes.