A FULL train timetable into and out of South Somerset will resume from tomorrow (Friday, April 28) following a problem with diesel trains.

The trains are performing as normal again following the issue with diesel fuel, which is under investigation.

Enhanced maintenance on the small number of affected trains has allowed services in the Yeovil, Basingstoke, Exeter, Romsey and Salisbury areas to gradually resume

South Western Railway (SWR) services will be back to normal across the West of England timetable ahead of the Bank Holiday.

An amended timetable was put in place last Friday (April 21) following the problem.

The issue caused fuel filters on a number of trains’ engines to become blocked, impacting their acceleration and top speed.

To restore services as soon as possible, engineers at SWR’s Salisbury train care depot have performed enhanced maintenance on all affected trains.

Fuel tanks at the depot, which provide 35,000 litres of fuel to the diesel fleet every day, have been deep cleaned and are also using fresh fuel.

These steps have restored train performance, allowing services to gradually be restored.

Neil Drury, SWR’s engineering director, said: “We’re sorry for the disruption that customers in the Basingstoke, Exeter, Romsey, Salisbury and Yeovil areas have felt since last Friday.

"It was a difficult decision to amend our timetables and we have worked hard to restore services as quickly as we can.

“We have taken a number of steps to mitigate the problem, which we believe is related to the contamination of diesel fuel.

"Many of our trains have returned to the levels of performance that we expect and while there is still work to do, we are pleased to be able to restore the full timetable on Friday 28.

“Once again we’re very sorry for the disruption and grateful for the continued patience of our customers."