South West Trains profits are up £6m...but dividend falls

RISING ticket revenues and an increase in Government subsidy helped South West Trains deliver a £16million dividend for its owner Stagecoach last year.

The train operator, which runs 1,600 trains a day in the South, South West England and on the Isle of Wight, saw revenues jump from £866.8million to £910.1million in the year to April 26, 2014 and revenue support from the Government increase from £133.5million to £160.2million.

However the cost of its franchise also went up, from £415.1million to £461.2million, leaving the company with pre-tax profits of £29.7million, up from £23.7million. In spite of the increased profits, Stagecoach actually took a reduced dividend, down from £17.5million last year.

The company directors attributed the rise in sales to launching new marketing campaigns and said it plans to do more of the same this year. However, they added that last year’s bad weather which caused landslides and fallen trees cost the company £3million and led to a drop in performance and customer satisfaction, meaning just 64.4 per cent of its trains arrived within a minute of their scheduled time. Its 7.32am commuter service from Woking to Waterloo was recently named the second worst train in the country for overcrowding. It is meant to carry 738 passengers but actually crams 1,278 on board.

The South West Trains network includes routes through Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Surrey.