RAIL passengers are being warned not to travel on the line between Salisbury and Exeter due to forecast bad weather. 

South Western Railway said people should only travel if 'absolutely necessary' between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids on Wednesday, December 27.

They said that due to forecast heavy rainfall, a 40mph speed restriction will be in place on the line from 6pm on Boxing Day, remaining in place on Wednesday, December 27.

A spokesperson for South Western Railway commented: “We’re really sorry that we must urge customers to only travel if absolutely necessary between Salisbury and Exeter on Wednesday.  

“With severe weather expected, trains are only able to travel at around half their usual speeds between Salisbury and Honiton. Because of the single line between these stations, it will not be possible to operate a normal timetable. 

“We know many customers will want to travel that day after celebrating Christmas, but if they are able to travel on another day, we strongly recommend doing so. Once again, we’re very sorry for the disruption.” 

Trains will travel at much slower speeds than usual, meaning only one train will run every two hours, instead of the planned one train per hour, throughout the day.  

Services from London Waterloo to Exeter St Davids were already expected to be extremely busy because of the planned closure of London Paddington from Sunday, December 24 to the end of Wednesday, December 27.  

All services between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids for Wednesday, December 27 will be removed from journey planners by the evening of Tuesday, December 26 in preparation for the amended services to be added.   

Journey planners will not be up to date for services between Salisbury and Exeter St Davids until the morning of Wednesday, December 27.

People are warned to check their journey before they set off.