Engineering work at South Western Railway's new £60m Feltham Depot has begun on the next phase ahead of the Class 701 trains entering service.
The Bank Holiday Weekend work saw necessary cabling and track connection work taking place. Work will continue over the coming months to connect the eastern and western parts of the depot to the mainline in time for the new trains arrive.
Since the lockdown, strict guidelines have been in place so engineering work could continue.
The 10-car Class 701 trains will be stabled at the new depot, with the fleet of trains coming into service over the next few years.
The new trains are a £1bn investment into faster trains for passengers travelling to or from London Waterloo.
Errol Douglas, Senior Project Manager (FirstGroup), said “We're working hard to deliver this major engineering project, under carefully managed and safe conditions during the coronavirus lockdown, as part of our plans to transform services for passengers. The next phase of works at Feltham depot is an important milestone in a three-year project which has dramatically transformed a part of South West London that was formerly derelict. Once complete (later this year), passengers and staff will experience the benefit of our £1bn investment.”
Phil Wood, VolkerFitzpatrick project manager, said “Our achievements to date are the result of the strong working relationship with Network Rail and SWR. This partnership, and the investment provided by Network Rail and the DfT, will help rejuvenate this once derelict area of South West London, will create future employment in the areas and will provide SWR with a state-of-the-art facility for their new fleet of Class 701 trains. As works progress in the coming weeks, our teams will continue to work tirelessly to guarantee key milestones are achieved while safeguarding the safety of all operatives.”
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Feltham has always been in Middlesex!
Er , south west London ?
Well Feltham is in the London Borough of Hounslow but it was originally in Surrey. And possibly was in Middlesex one time.
As South Western Railway are replacing the Class 455, Class 456, Class 458/5 and Class 707 with the Class 701. And with work to be done at depots including at Clapham Junction, Feltham and Wimbledon depots to accommodate the 60 10-Car (701/0) and 30 5-Car (701/5) Class 701 Aventra stocks. And the Class 707 are to be cascaded to Southeastern. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_701
Perhaps Southern might inherit the Class 455 from SWR and to work with their Class 455 units on South London suburban services. And possibly replace the Class 313 with the Class 458 and to downgrade them from 5-car to 4-car or 3-car to be used on the East Coastway, West Coastway, Seaford, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton routes and to scrap the Class 313 just like what Great Northern have done and replaced the Class 313 with the Class 717 on the Moorgate Line and Hertford Loop Line services. And with the Class 456 to be sent for scrap.