A Network Rail and South West Trains alliance has revealed a new blueprint, the Wessex Route Plan, to tackle overcrowding and delays on train services from Waterloo to the south and west of England.

These include running double-decker trains along the routes, sections of which have been described as some of the most congested in the UK by the operators. Furthermore, growth in demand for main line services is expected to rise by 40 per cent over the next 30 years.

Other proposals involve new high-speed trains, flyovers at Woking and Basingstoke, electrification of the Waterloo to Salisbury line, and extra track between Surbiton and Clapham Junction.

Tim Shoveller, head of the Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance, said: “It’s fantastic that more and more people want to travel by train and we want to provide the railway to take them where they are going.”