The end of privatised South Western Railway operations

Описание: The end of South Western Railway

South Western Railway is the first train operating company to be Renationalised under the new Great British Railways.

South Western Railway commenced operations on 20th August 2017, having taken over from the Stagecoach operated South West Trains. South Western Railway is a joint venture between First Group and MTR. They operated all services from London Waterloo to destinations across south west England, including Reading, Portsmouth, Basingstoke, Southampton, Bournemouth, Weymouth, Salisbury, Bristol and Exeter.
SWR introduced new Class 701 Aventra Electric Multiple Units known as Arterio's to replace its existing fleets used on suburban services. The Class 701s having one of the slowest roll out periods recorded, initially being ordered in 2017 upon the company's launch and today only a handful are in service.
South Western Railway also overhauled and reintroduced '18' Class 442 Wessex Electrics between 2017 and 2018 to operate on the London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour services. These trains being replaced by the previous operator, South West Trains, in 2007. Sadly however, due to technical issues and the Covid19 pandemic, the Class 442s were withdrawn and scrapped in 2020. Later, SWR repaired and upgraded its fleet of Class 458/5 Juniper units to replace the 442s. The Class 458/5s were shortened to four coaches instead of five and had their top speed increased to 100mph instead of 75mph. New seats and plug charging points where also fitted. The refurbishment of the 458s saw them reclassified to Class 458/4s and at present only operate on suburban services around London.

Things may have not gone as smoothly as SWR would have liked but overall I think they have served Britain's railways well.

Farewell SWR, 2017 - 2025

Railway World

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