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I saw 460 002 last night in service at Victoria and I believe 001 is still in play as well. The bodywork on 002 looked to be in a poor state, covered in dents and what looks like weird grey patches of paint.

I read that SWT are responsible for maintaining the infrastructure as part of the terms of the Island Line franchise and given that they hold no such responsibility for infrastructure on the mainland network I am curious about the practical implications of this agreement. This article about...

Really? I use the line up from Portsmouth on a daily basis and travel through Guildford on numerous routes and I've never seen a 159 on the PDL south of Woking - they all go via Basingstoke. Then again both units looked empty so I guess it could be part of a re-positioning for another service.

Does anyone know where the 2x159 (6 car formation) through Guildford this morning came from and where it was going? It passed through around 7:56 this morning heading toward Waterloo.

Does anyone know how the re-engineering programme is going? All seems to be very quiet on that front since it was originally announced last year: http://www.rail.co/2011/07/06/railway-vehicle-engineering-ltd-to-rebuild-class-73/

I suppose that depends entirely on what you mean by the term 'enthusiast's rumour'. As stated, the quote has been taken from the SWT website for a current job vacancy they're advertising (http://www.southwesttrains.co.uk/job-search.aspx - check the Senior Production Manager Assistant role at...

"Main Purpose The commitment to deliver the HLOS project involving the introduction of class 458/5 and 456 units into Wimbledon has necessitated an assistant’s role to the depot Senior Production Manager." Quoted from a job advert on the SWT website, so I guess that's confirmation of where...

If they were able to lock one carriage out of use in a four car unit why can't they do that on other services rather than locking an entire unit out of use and asking passengers to move into the front unit(s)? I'm sure SWT et al know how their Desiro units work better than I do, I'm just curious...

When 450s are used on the Lymington Branch don't they lock the 4th carriage of the unit out of use and run it as a three car service?

Good to know I'm not imagining it!! 3417 seems to be very well travelled. I've often passed it at Tonbridge Yard and marvelled at how such a pristine looking unit consistently avoids the attention of vandals. Sorry - I was trying to describe the NSE livery (light blue with orange, red and...

What about the last remaining GatEx 460s? Do they operate on fixed services or are they just running as and when?

Three questions in connection with things I've seen on the train to Waterloo each day: 1) I've noticed when passing Wimbledon Train Care Depot that in the sidings at the very far end there is a rake of low loader trucks with a coach attached to them. The coach is painted in the original light...

Being a layman with regards to the specifics of ROSCOs and fleet leasing arrangements I can only assume that basic economic arguments would come into play. Why would either SWT or Southern want to take on a small sub-fleet of non-standard vehicles to run a line that crosses through some of their...

I like SWT and think they provide an excellent service, but their diesel stock of 158s and 159s isn't really suited to the line. 171s seem like a better fit and Southern already maintain a fleet of them so it would just mean expanding their fleet, possibly achieved by cascading some of FGW's...

I don't think the route from Reading to Victoria would hold much appeal to London bound commuters but it would maintain a service for passengers travelling to Gatwick Airport (changing at Redhill instead of waiting for the service to reverse down the line as it does at present). Southern already...

Sorry - I should have been clearer. I was making two seperate points - give Southern all the diesel islands for the sake of having one franchise operating all the non-electrified routes, which would also enable through services from Reading/Guildford to London Bridge/Victoria via Reigate and...

Simple solution - give Southern more 171s and let them run the North Downs line - that way all Southern region diesel islands will belong to one franchise and they can run through services.

Surely the 442s are nothing more than a stop gap solution until more 377s arrive? They (442s) seem to have reliability problems, aren't compatible with the requirements of disabled passengers and they don't seem to be suited to at least some of the routes that Southern operate (as one example...

455s to Tonbridge would be horrible - 377/3s would make more sense. They already run to Horsham, but using the Sutton and Mole Valley Line rather than the Brighton Mainline. My guess is the new stock will allow the 455s to be sent to the Coastway routes and free up some of the 377s to run on...

I agree with you fully that the railways are far from a profitable environment (ignoring peak routes into major cities). To my mind that strengthens the argument for public ownership - why have a layer of pretend private enterprise trying to extract money from the system for shareholders and...