Welcome SWR
First MTR takes over South Western franchise, becoming the first new operator of the franchise in 21 years.
First MTR took over operation of the South Western franchise on August 20, replacing Stagecoach’s South West Trains.
After 21 years, the final SWT service from the capital was the 0142 London Waterloo-Surbiton, formed of 455702 and 455705.
The new operator has taken over during the London Waterloo blockade. Its introduction has included disruption, while timetables released to passengers have contained spelling mistakes and geographical errors.
An SWR spokesman said on August 23: “We understand that it’s been a challenging few weeks for customers travelling on the network with the Waterloo and South West upgrade works, so we’d like to thank everyone for their patience during this time.
“We’d also like to apologise for some timetable errors printed. Our customers must have been surprised to learn that Woking had relocated to London, and we would like to reassure them that’s definitely not the case. Woking will remain in Surrey, outside of the M25, for the entirety of the South Western Railway franchise. Seriously, though, we are already reprinting these timetables and they will be distributed as soon as possible.
“Performance has been relatively positive considering the ongoing constraints of the Waterloo works. We anticipate the remaining few days of the works to also be challenging as services will be severely reduced.”
During the franchise, SWR will introduce 750 Bombardier Aventra vehicles and 18 retractioned fivecar Class 442s. It will dispense with its Class 455, ‘456’ and ‘458’ fleets, while the 30 five-car Class 707s currently being delivered by Siemens will also be sent off-lease.
The latter were ordered in 2014, and so far only one pair (707003/005) has operated a passenger train, running from Brentford to Reading on August 17. ■ The new face of South Western, pages 86-89.