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250 additional carriages for South West Trains

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infobleep

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I thought the following had already been agreed but perhaps not until now.

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/south-west-trains-announces-introduction-9804364

South West Trains announces introduction of 17,000 new spaces for customers

14:09, 11 AUGUST 2015BY*MARK*EDWARDS

The spaces will be provided through more than 250 additional carriages which will be up and running by 2018

59*Shares

[http://i3]

South West Trains' (SWT) customers will have more than 17,000 news spaces on the rail providers trains after a £65m roll-out of additional carriages.

SWT secured the extra carriages as part of a government programme which will introduce more than 250 new carriages by 2018.

So far 81 extra carriages are running already with a further 108 carriages due early next year.

The company claims that this will provide 30% more space for passengers during peak times, with the new carriages featuring wider doors, improved seating, full CCTV and new flooring.

Christian Roth, SWT engineering director, said: “It is excellent news that the vitally important roll out of 108 additional carriages to our network is now 75% complete. These new carriages are not only providing much more space for passengers on many of our busiest services, they also include significantly improved facilities too.

“On average, we are introducing one new carriage every week and by early next year all 108 carriages will be in service for passengers.

“This is a significant step towards the biggest improvements this network has seen for decades and is a major part of our promise to increase space for passengers by 30%.”

The investment to increase capacity for commuters includes work to lengthen platforms at London Waterloo in 2017 to allow for longer trains.

Rail Minister Claire Perry said: “We want to see better journeys on a railway fit for the 21st century.‎

“That is why we are investing in new, more comfortable carriages for thousands of South West Trains’ customers. Passengers will benefit from more space, more seats and better facilities.

“It’s all part of our long-term economic plan to make the biggest investment in our railways since the Victorian era."

The government scheme supporting the investment is called the High Level Output Specification Programme.

We want to hear YOUR views and experiences of rail travel in Surrey and north-east Hampshire in our survey.

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hwl

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Not just agreed but already in services - does this just mean the franchise extension has been agreed?

108 additional carriages to our network
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


Very carefully worded to make it sound like all new...

But:
24x 456 = 48 cars
6x "new" 458/5 = 30 cars
30x 5th cars in 458/8 = 30cars

Total = 108cars

The rest will be the Siemens 707s.
 
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swt_passenger

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I thought the following had already been agreed but perhaps not until now.

It has been agreed, it is nothing more than SWT keeping the subject alive for local media by repeating the same old stuff as the 456 project comes towards an end, and the 458/5 project staggers on at least a year late.

The 108 extra carriages (that hwl has broken down) should all have been in use by December 2014.

I think it will be May 2016 unless there's some sort of miracle at Doncaster.

There doesn't seem to be any logical reason for issuing this now as far as I can work out. 75% complete overall - 81/108?
 
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infobleep

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Of course when these extra 250 cars fully come into use, South West Trains might not even be the franchise holder. I'm happy for then to continue but it's not down to me.
 

D365

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I think it will be May 2015 unless there's some sort of miracle at Doncaster.

May 2015 would be a miracle in itself!

How likely is it that any future franchise holder will take up the option for additional units from the Class 707 order?
 

3141

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How likely is it that any future franchise holder will take up the option for additional units from the Class 707 order?

I'd say they will have three choices:-

1) Take up the option.
2) Get hold of some more new trains by placing a new order. Probably more expensive, and if the new trains came from a supplier other than Siemens there'd be the issue of additional spare parts and staff training.
3) Do nothing.

If passenger numbers continue rising no. 1 will be attractive.

Maybe there's a fourth choice, that the DfT decide to take up the option for more 707s and use them elsewhere.

Or, if it's Stagecoach plc that holds the option, then they take it up and use the new trains on another franchise - if, say, their joint bid with Abellio wins Greater Anglia.
 

Deepgreen

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I thought the following had already been agreed but perhaps not until now.

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/south-west-trains-announces-introduction-9804364

Careful use of the term "spaces" rather than "seats". They claim there will be "improved" seats, but if almost all the other TOCs are anything to go by, the next generation of seats will actually be worse! Also, what's this claim about it being part of the biggest investment since the Victorian era - over what time span? What about the steam to diesel changeover? What about mass electrification and the associated traction and stock? It's pure spin.
 
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swt_passenger

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May 2015 would be a miracle in itself!
I must proof read my posts better...

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Careful use of the term "spaces" rather than "seats".

We've discussed this before, when it was found that the changed configuration of the 458/5 means only a handful of extra seats on any individual unit, the only significant gain is the 6 extra complete units.

On the other hand the 456s do provide a real pro-rata increase in seats.
 
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fgwrich

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May 2015 would be a miracle in itself!

How likely is it that any future franchise holder will take up the option for additional units from the Class 707 order?

Indeed. Do we know if there's any news on who else may bid yet? I know Arriva seem to be lining up a bid from a local email we've just had around here asking for our opinions and what we'd want to see - Sorry Arriva, It's not you!
 
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