A POPULAR tourist train will be steaming into Weymouth again this summer.

Last year’s steam locomotive-hauled Dorset Coast Express from London to Weymouth was a sell-out success with 3,500 people travelling from July to September.

Heritage rail operator the Railway Touring Company is increasing the number of steam services from the capital to the seaside for 2011.

There will be 11 trains from London Victoria to Weymouth during the summer – four more than last year – which are expected to attract more than 4,000 passengers in total.

One of those will be a ‘murder mystery special’, echoing scenes from Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, a Weymouth-bound steam train will be the venue for a chilling play.

News of the steam train services is a welcome boost for the resort’s tourist trade.

The trains are in town long enough for visitors to enjoy a few hours on the beach or in town and give them a taste of what the resort has to offer.

Vintage steam trains at Weymouth station will also be welcomed by enthusiasts young and old.

Leader of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council Mike Goodman said: “It can only be of benefit.

“The more visitors we get, particularly on public transport, the better. We have plenty of capacity on our beach and in our town and welcome visitors travelling on vintage trains.”

British Railways ran its last passenger steam service back in 1968, but the nation’s love of steam travel has not waned, said managing director of the Railway Touring Company Nigel Dobbing.

He added: “The combination of travelling on board our vintage rail carriages, hauled by one of these magnificent locomotives to this super British seaside resort makes for a nostalgic summer’s day out.”

Announcing the weekly Tuesday steam departures starting from July 6 and running until September 13, Mr Dobbing revealed a line up of four historic locomotives, set to haul the service on different dates.

The locomotives are 1925-built 30777 Sir Lamiel, 1947-built 34067 Tangmere and 1951-built 70000 Britannia will return to haul the restored 1950s and 60s rail carriages of The Dorset Coast Express, also including a dining car on each service.

They will be joined this year by 34046 Braunton, a West Country class Pacific 4-6-2 built in Brighton in 1946.

The murder mystery train, a first for the UK, will run on July 12 and will involve a collaboration between RED Events and Co, Spike Theatre and the Railway Touring Company.

A full-blooded “attack on the track” thriller will be performed onboard the period steam train as it races towards Weymouth. For information visit railwaytouring.co.uk