HISTORIC steam trains will be transporting hundreds of sun-seeking city folk to Bournemouth over the summer.

A 1945-built locomotive pulled into the town’s iconic Victorian station earlier this month as the Dorset Coast Express made its first trip to the town this year.

Organised by the heritage rail operator the Railway Touring Company, the scheme will see a variety of classic steam trains stop off at the station each Wednesday up until mid-September.

The train travels from London Victoria to Bournemouth and Weymouth, stopping at Staines, Woking, Basingstoke and Southampton Central to pick-up passengers along the way. On the return journey, because Weymouth does not have a turn table to turn the steam loco, the vintage train travels from Weymouth to Southampton hauled by diesel.

At Southampton it is re-met by the historic steam train which hauls it back to the capital.

The Railway Touring Company’s managing director Nigel Dobbing said the experience mimics 1950s day trips to the coast.

He said: “The Dorset Coast Express recreates the 1950s summers days out to the seaside by steam train.”

The historic locomotives due to haul the Dorset Coast Express over the summer include a Black 5 built in 1945, a Braunton built in 1946 and a Tangmere built in 1947.

The trains are expected to reach Bournemouth Station on Wednesdays at approximately 12.50pm and Weymouth at 13.45pm.

To find out more about the Dorset Coast Express go to railwaytouring.net.