South West Trains - South West Trains Demise - C

South West Trains - C

South West Trains Demise

In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the DfT was in talks with Stagecoach to extend the franchise until April 2019. At one point, it seemed certain that the franchise would be renewed, information to that effect having been included on the Government's published Rail Franchise Schedule in October 2014.

However, in July 2015, Stagecoach confirmed that talks had failed and the franchise would be relet. This outcome was viewed by several industry commentators as being unexpected and inconvenient in its timing; the periodical Rail speculated that Stagecoach's rejection had been largely due to government officials feeling that the state was not receiving a sufficiently large share of the profits being generated.

Stagecoach and a FirstGroup / MTR Corporation joint venture were shortlisted on 4 February 2016 to bid for the new franchise. On 27 March 2017, the franchise was awarded to South Western Railway, in spite of concerns that it would result in a single company holding a monopoly on services between London and the West of England, Dorset and Somerset, due to FirstGroup also operating the Greater Western franchise in those regions.

South West Trains Overview

South West Trains Franchise(s):

South West

4 February 1996 – 3 February 2007

South Western

4 February 2007 – 20 August 2017

South West Trains Main region(s):

Greater London

Surrey

Hampshire

Isle of Wight

Dorset

South West Trains Other Region(s):

Berkshire

Wiltshire

Somerset

Devon

South West Trains Fleet Size: 373

1 Class 73 electro-diesel locomotive

11 Class 158 Express Sprinter sets

30 Class 159 South Western Turbo sets

45 Class 444 Desiro sets

127 Class 450 Desiro sets

91 Class 455 sets

24 Class 456 sets

36 Class 458 Juniper sets

2 Class 707 Desiro City sets

6 Class 483 sets

South West Trains Stations Called at: 213

South West Trains Stations Operated: 185 (including Island Line)

South West Trains Parent company: Stagecoach

South West Trains Reporting mark: SW

South West Trains Predecessor: Network SouthEast

Island Line (Island Line franchise)

South West Trains Successor: South Western Railway

Rail Holidays
Rail Vacations

Luxury Trains
Luxury Tours

International Trains
International Tours