CAMPAIGNERS celebrated today after a rail company agreed to reinstate a summer special train to boost Weymouth’s tourist industry.

There were cries of delight as First Great Western bowed to pressure and announced it would run the service on summer Saturdays to accommodate the extra passengers that want to travel from Yeovil, Bath and Bristol.

The first train will start this weekend.

The service, known as the Bucket and Spade special, has been run for more than 20 years.

Unlike the two-carriage diesel units it is made up of a locomotive and carriages which means there is much more space available for passengers and their luggage.

But as the Dorset Echo reported earlier this year, First was reviewing the service because it is not part of its franchise agreement. In previous years it has hired the train from another company for £200,000.

First’s regional general manager Julian Crow confirmed the train would run.

He said work by line promotion group the Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership highlighting overcrowding issues on the line had prompted the company to act.

The Overcrowding Watch survey revealed that carriages on the line were frequently crowded and some passengers were left to stand for an hour or more. This, coupled with late and cancelled trains, had led to a public perception of ‘service meltdown,’ it said.

Mr Crow said: “The significant extra demand for rail journeys to Weymouth on summer Saturdays is a long standing challenge, which, with the general growth on this rail route over recent years, has put increasingly stronger pressure on our normal resources.

“The Overcrowding Watch study carried out by the Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership in 2007 which for the first time quantified the demand flows along the route, has been of significant assistance in justifying our decision to make this additional financial investment this year.

“It will help us to ensure that as far as possible we match demand with supply and provide for a comfortable journey for a day out in Weymouth. We will also be strengthening other key trains with additional carriages throughout the summer.”

The news was welcomed by rail campaigner Andy Hutchings, who is the Weymouth station representative on the Heart of Wessex Rail Partnership and helped to compile the overcrowding study.

He said: “It’s a great victory for people power. There’s a lot of people who use this line and over the last three years in particular there has been a signifant increase in traffic. I’m very pleased that First Great Western will continue to run this train.”

The train will depart Bristol Temple Meads at 9.09am on Saturdays up until September 5. It will return at 4.55pm from Weymouth.

Partnership officer Catherine Phillips said: “This decision by FGW is to be applauded.

“We understand it is a very significant additional investment, and that the cost of hiring and running the extra train will be far greater than the income it can generate.

“The annual challenge posed by the powerful attractions of Weymouth in the summer months competes in a very difficult balancing act by the train operator for the use of its resources across the network.”

She said a lot was owed by the volunteers, including Andy Hutchings and Terry Putnam, who took part in the overcrowding survey.

TRADERS, hoteliers and tourism chiefs have welcomed the decision to run the Bucket and Spade special.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council spokesman for leisure and tourism Brendan Webster said: “It is great news, especially coming so soon after Weymouth Beach winning an Encams Quality Coast Award for its bathing water quality and level of facilities.

“People can look forward to a quality break in the town, and if they come on the train they don’t have to walk far to the beach and the town.

“There are various reports about what the summer will be like but I hope it will be a good one.”

Owner of the Rock and Fudge shop on Weymouth Esplanade Wendy Nicholls said: “We get a lot of day-trippers in and I know many of them come on the train so it’s welcome news they’re going to run the special train.

“I think a lot of people are making a spur of the moment decision to have a day out depending on the weather.

“If there’s an extra train to cater for them that’s great.”

Landlord Pete Smith, whose No.6 bar is opposite the railway station in King Street, said: “It’s fantastic news.

“Anything that combats the high car parking charges in Weymouth has to be a good thing.

“I used to live in Swindon and two of the biggest moans about Weymouth was the availability of parking spaces and the vigorous policing of the car parks.

“If they run more trains for holidaymakers and keep the costs down it will be great for those people who don’t want to drive.”

Secretary of Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism Michel Hooper-Immins said: “Bringing visitors in by train to Weymouth is a most environmentally-friendly practice, avoiding the queues on the Ridgeway.

“The Bristol line is often something of a Cinderella with reports of holidaymakers having to stand in overcrowded two-coach trains all the way from Bristol.

“Clearly that is a discouragement to rail travellers, so I am delighted to hear First Great Western are putting on this extra service to Weymouth.”

Owner of Basil Towers guesthouse in Abbotsbury Road Jane Barrett said: “This additional service would be definitely welcome.

“We get quite a few here that come down on the train especially from Yeovil which is on the Bristol line.”

Owner of the Langham Hotel on Weymouth Esplanade Geoff Barrett said: “Anything that gets people to Weymouth easier has to be a good thing for the hotel trade.

“Everyone knows the problems people encounter getting to Weymouth so laying on extra trains is welcomed.”