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Temporary timetable for Dorchester and Weymouth services

From Monday 3 August 2026, services for Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester and Weymouth will run to a temporary timetable until further notice. Trains towards London will depart Weymouth and Dorchester a few minutes earlier than previously timetabled

The temporary timetables are available to download:

• Weekdays (PDF, 594kb)
• Saturdays (PDF, 618kb)
• Sundays (PDF, 343kb)

Temporary timetable for West of England line services

From Monday 10 August 2026, services between London Waterloo, Yeovil Junction and Exeter St Davids will run to a temporary timetable until further notice. In particular, please note the train service between Yeovil Jct and Exeter (serving Crewkerne and Axminster) will only run every two hours

To make it easier to complete your journey there are also alternative ticket acceptance arrangements in place. Find out more about these arrangements and refunds here

The temporary timetables are available to download:

• Weekdays (PDF, 410kb)
• Saturdays (PDF, 337kb)
• Sundays (PDF, 411kb)

Replacement Bus services

To help students with their journeys to local schools and colleges bus services will be provided between Axminster, Feniton and Exeter starting on Tuesday 1 September, as follows:

Revised train times

To help customers travelling to Exeter the 0640 service from Salisbury to Exeter St Davids is re-timed to arrive before 0900

This service will now depart Salisbury at 0630, calling at Tisbury (0644), Gillingham (0658), Templecombe (0708), Sherborne (0717), Yeovil Junction (0724), Crewkerne (0737), Axminster (0757), Honiton (0812), Feniton (0818), Whimple (0824) Cranbrook (0829), Pinhoe (0833) Exeter Central (0843), and Exeter St Davids (0846)

The 0755 service from Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo will also be re-timed and will depart Exeter St Davids at the earlier time of 0739

Families across Dorset can enjoy free bus travel for children and cheaper days out this summer through the UK Government’s Great British Summer Savings campaign. Throughout August, children aged five to 15 can travel free on local bus services in England.

Many of Dorset’s most popular destinations can be reached by bus, including beaches, market towns, museums, country parks and visitor attractions. The Dorset bus network and wider services make it possible for families to explore more of the county without relying on a car, while taking advantage of free travel for children during August.

The news that John Collingwood has died will have sent shock waves through this community, since he had such an impact on so many lives in so many ways.

I first met John through an early iteration of Sustainable Bridport and he always had a keen interest in all things “green” and this extended to public transport. He didn’t need much persuading to come to the WATAG public meetings and he was a regular attendee for the last 16 years or so. He joined our committee in 2015 and held all the senior roles of Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman; indeed he was still Vice Chair until he had to stand down at the end of April due to ill health.

He was a tower of strength to four Chairs, before taking on the role himself, and virtually single handedly rewrote our ‘Constitution’ to bring it up to date. Even our current logo was his design!

A very physical man, he demanded – rightly – that we include “Active Travel” in our mission statement, and took a keen interest in both the ‘Chideock Path to Bridport’ (that currently runs between Chideock and Quarr Lane) and the campaign by Loders Transport Group to provide a safe route for walkers and cyclists to access Bradpole from Loders. We hope both schemes will come to fruition.

He will be greatly missed by all who knew him and we send our sincere condolences to his family.

Bob Driscoll
WATAG Committee member and former Chairman

The next public meeting of the West Dorset (Western Area) Transport Action Group (WATAG) will be held on Thursday 2 July 2026 at 18.30

Bridport Town Council Offices, Mountfield, Bridport DT6 3JP

The meeting will include a general update of our activities so far this year, including the current passenger survey to assess the support for improvements to the X51 bus timetable between Bridport and Dorchester. You can read more about it on our website and there’s still time to complete our survey. Survey forms will also be available at the meeting. We’ve had an excellent response so far since we launched it at the Bridport Charter Fair on 16 May.

Local bus and rail operators have been invited along with Dorset Travel (the public transport arm of Dorset Council) – and will provide updates where applicable.

As always, we will leave time for individuals to speak or raise questions about any transport issues for which they would like answers. We’ll aim to finish by 20.00 latest.

Anyone interested in public transport issues is encouraged to attend. We are also very keen to increase the numbers on WATAG’s committee – So if you are a regular bus/rail user or simply have an interest in improving Public Transport, let us know!

We hope to see you on 2^nd July.

This will be a ‘hybrid’ meeting, and a link will be provided to enable those unable to attend in person to join us on Zoom. If you are not already a subscriber to our email list please consider joining to be sent the link, or you are welcome to contact us at watag@hotmail.co.uk

Update: the minutes of this meeting are now available here

The Bridport News has a report on our ongoing X51 Bus users survey.

Views sought over future of ‘lifeline’ bus service as improvements called for

“The West Dorset Western Area Transport Action Group (WATAG) has launched a public survey asking what people want from First’s X51 bus service and how it can be improved.”

“Bob Driscoll, committee member for WATAG, said the service is a vital link for Dorset, which people rely on for schools, work and hospital appointments, and helps businesses throughout the county. Doubling the service so it runs hourly, is the group’s main aspiration.”

Read on here… and please help us with our campaign by completing the survey here!

Credit to Bridport News reporter Chloe Boden

WATAG has launched a survey of users and potential passengers of the X51 bus service.

WATAG campaigns for better public transport in West Dorset – our main priority is to seek an hourly service on the X51 bus running between Bridport and our county town Dorchester – seven days a week, all year round, together with journeys later in the evening.

Please help our campaign by completing our X51 survey – either online here – or on paper at the Bridport TIC. We will use your response to provide evidence for the level of public support.

https://www.southwesterntimetable.com

South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex are embarking on the first full refresh of the timetable across the south and west of England since 2004.

Ahead of the formal consultation taking place in Autumn 2026, your views will help shape the timetable planning. SWR want to know about your experience, insights and aspirations for the future timetable.

​SWR say the aim is to maintain reliability of the service, improve connectivity and, as a publicly owned service, use public money responsibly. Some technical decisions will need to be balanced, for example between faster journeys from one station and more stops at another.

Have your say here

A new summer evening bus service LB1 between Bridport and Lyme Regis calling at Chideock, Morecombelake and Charmouth will start on Friday 1 May.

The LB1 will run every Friday and Saturday night until Saturday 26 September.

The first LB1 will run from Bridport bus station at 18:15 with the last bus leaving Lyme Regis at 23:30.

There will also be the opportunity to link with the X53 service from Weymouth for the first two buses from Bridport, while the 23:30 return bus from Lyme Regis will travel back to Weymouth following the X53 route, offering passengers the possibility of a late evening out in Bridport or Lyme by public transport.

The service will be operated by First Bus, using double deckers, capable of transporting more than 90 people at a time.

The LB1 timetable is available here

The project for a late-night bus service was spearheaded by West Dorset Commons, which worked in partnership with Lyme Regis Town Council to secure a £20,000 grant from Western Gateway, the Sub-National Transport Body for the West of England. West Dorset Commons was also responsible for the Bridport to West Bay shuttle, the WB1, which was launched last summer.

Up to Thursday 2 April – Regular service

Friday 3 April (Good Friday) – Sunday service (No service CR6 or X51)

Saturday 4 April – Saturday service

Sunday 5 April (Easter Sunday) – Sunday service (No service CR6 or X51)

Monday 6 April (Easter Monday) – Sunday service  (No service CR6 or X51)

From Tuesday 7 April – Regular service resumes