RAIL services from London and Bristol to Dorchester and Weymouth are not serving local people well – according to Dorchester councillors.

They are to take part in a South Western Rail consultation exercise about the timetable and are encouraging others to also do so.

Cllr Robin Potter told a town council meeting on Monday evening that the authority will need to consider the 44-page document seriously and come up with 'a forthright opinion' before the September 19 deadline.

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In the document foreword SWR say that now is 'a unique opportunity to build back a better railway for the future'.

“Now is the time to start planning for a long-term timetable that will retain and build on the reliability improvements we’ve made, meet the forecast demand and provide value for the taxpayer while balancing other local and national priorities.”

The consultation document, which was launched this week, says it hopes to implement the changes by the time the December 2022 timetable comes into force.

A previous town council meeting heard of passengers with bikes and push-chairs being unable to board trains because of a lack of space since services had been reduced from half-hourly to hourly and with fewer early and late trains.

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Cllr Janet Hewitt said that many local people with medical problems, or needing surgery, were finding it difficult to use the trains to get to Southampton Hospital, or for specialist treatment at some of the London hospitals because of the new timetable with many now having the added difficulty of having to change trains at Bournemouth.

Cllr Fiona Kent-Ledger said that the new ramp at the west station, now nearing completion, which will allow people with disabilities to use the station for access to Dorset County Hospital for the first time, might be of little use if people were not able to get onto trains to begin with.

By the time short trains from Bristol get into Dorset they can be full on busy days in the summer with no seats and no space for those with wheelchairs, buggies, or bikes, although there are fewer problems for those setting out on the west line from Weymouth.