Direct train to Waterloo as part of new services

FROME will benefit from new daily direct train services to and from London Waterloo from December, bringing with it better connections to Salisbury, Basingstoke, Woking and Clapham Junction.

There will be four new weekday services for Frome; one to London Waterloo and three extra  services to Salisbury. There will be a service from Yeovil Junction to London Waterloo calling at Frome at 5.24pm, and one travelling from Waterloo to Salisbury, calling at Frome at 3.07pm.

There will also be two additional evening trains from Frome to Salisbury, leaving at 7.56pm and 9.11pm.

The new services were announced as part of improvements to the South West Trains rail network last month.

Currently Frome’s only direct trains to the capital are the 6.05am and 3.55pm services to Paddington. Passengers wishing to travel at any other time must change to a connecting train at Westbury, Bath or Chippenham. The only direct return service is the 6.05pm service from Paddington.

As well as the new and increased services, South West Trains also say they will provide 800 additional seats every weekday between London and Somerset, and refurbish all 30 of the class 159 trains on the West of England route.

Tim Shoveller, managing director of South West Trains said, “We are delighted that these plans have been approved and we will now be able to press ahead with major improvements on the West of England line from December.

“Good transport links to cities such as Salisbury and of course, our capital city, play a crucial role in helping to keep the local economy growing, and we are certain that our customers will enjoy using these new services.

“We had some great feedback from local communities and we have taken these views on board and made changes where appropriate. We would like to thank the communities for their support and we look forwarding to launching the new services as part of the December timetable change.”

The new services are expected to take effect from Monday 14th December.

For more information about South West Trains’ services, visit www.southwesttrains.co.uk