RAIL users are set to benefit from hundreds of new train services.

From May, South Western Railway will introduce additional services from stations in the Southampton, Bournemouth and Poole areas to and from Waterloo; additional peak hour services on the Southampton mainline; some faster Waterloo/Weymouth services; additional services between Waterloo and Hedge End, Botley and Fareham and and additional fast Sunday evening service from Poole and Waterloo calling at Bournemouth and Southampton Central only in a bid to reduce overcrowding on Weymouth services.

The move will see more than 300 new services, including Basingstoke to Reading, Andover and Salisbury on Sundays; additional fast Monday to Saturday evening services between Basingstoke, Woking and Waterloo, with additional peak-hour services and additional Clapham Junction calls on west of England services to and from Basingstoke and Woking outside peak periods.

Meanwhile, the Island Line summer Sunday service of two trains per hour will continue throughout the winter.

Andy Mellors, managing director of South Western Railway, said: “Many of these service enhancements are based on extensive consultations and feedback sessions that were undertaken previously with local stakeholders, businesses, community groups and customers.

“We are very pleased that these enhancements will come to fruition shortly and we will continue to work on refurbishing our existing fleet and introducing brand new state-of-the-art trains in to service by the end of the year.”

South Western Railway operates almost 1,700 services per day across the network, providing commuter inter-urban, regional and long distance services to passengers.