It is now one year since South Western Railway (SWR) entered public ownership, and in that time, 39 new trains have been added to its fleet.
The new trains are improving commuters’ travel with better Wi-Fi, charging points at every seat, air conditioning, and 27% more seats on suburban routes and trains to London Waterloo.
To celebrate the first anniversary of Public Ownership, on Thursday, 22nd May, at London Waterloo station, Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy unveiled an Arterio train operated by SWR branded in the new Great British Railways (GBR) livery.
As well as the overall increase of 27% more seats, other routes have seen an even greater increase, including 55% to Aldershot via Ascot, 42% more to Windsor, Shepperton (32%), Dorking (30%) and Hampton Court (28%).
Compared with the Class 455 that the Arterios are replacing, they can carry twice the number of passengers, have faster acceleration, AND better braking capability.
South Western Railway expects its full fleet of 90 Arterio trains to be in service by early next year. Additional improvements include real-time passenger information and fully accessible toilets.
Alex Hynes, CEO of DFTO, commented that since entering public ownership, SWR has driven better and closer working with Network Rail. By bringing track and train together, an empowered and united leadership team has been able to go further, making decisions that are right for their customers and communities.”
“One year on from the first train operations entering public ownership, passengers are seeing and feeling the difference. Modern trains, more seats and greater capacity are restoring confidence in the railway and showing what can be achieved when we put passengers first rather than profit.”
“The rapid rollout of the South Western Railway Arterio fleet is a clear example of how nationalisation is cutting red tape that held the railway back for decades. These trains are transforming journeys for hundreds of thousands of people every day. “This milestone marks real progress towards a genuinely integrated railway under Great British Railways – a railway that’s improving and supporting economic growth, jobs and homes.”
Lord Peter Hendy, Rail Minister
Responses
Is it true that South Western Railway no longer wants to keep or retain the Class 458 Junipers and to send them for storage and could see them being scrapped. There has been rumours that the Class 458 could go to Southern to be used on the West Coastway Line and East Coastway Line services.
But I can find no good news about the amount of delays and cancellations since nationalisation. Quite the opposite. So why isn’t working together making the automatic difference that the politicians and others said it would?