New South Western franchise: Awarded to First/MTR

[U-Bahnfreund]

Do we know anything new about South Western Railway’s new brand/colour scheme? I mean, it's exactly one month until the takeover and I can't even find a website.

 

[Suraggu]

Do we know anything new about South Western Railway’s new brand/colour scheme? I mean, it's exactly one month until the takeover and I can't even find a website.

Nope, Its being kept either A) closely guarded secret or B) They have not decided.

Mind you the name South Western Railway name was kept quiet until a couple of weeks ago.

 

[A0wen]

Do we know anything new about South Western Railway’s new brand/colour scheme? I mean, it's exactly one month until the takeover and I can't even find a website.

They probably have the relevant web addresses registered but they will almost certainly be set up to route you back to the current South West Trains site, which makes sense given customers looking for train times and tickets will need to go to the current site.

At midnight on the changeover day, I'd expect the routing to be changed so that the current South West Trains address repoints to the new website - which IIRC is what happened when the East Coast franchise changed hands.

 

[felixthebadger]

Do we know anything new about South Western Railway’s new brand/colour scheme? I mean, it's exactly one month until the takeover and I can't even find a website.

I did read somewhere that the franchise launch party might wait until after the August Waterloo work.

 

[Muzer]

Maybe one for a new thread, but is it possible to renew my season ticket a couple of days early in order to get the weekend tickets? My current gold card expires 21st August... Then again, I'm not even sure I'm eligible (it's actually a GWR fare; the Any Permitted Basingstoke to London Travelcard).

 

[greaterwest]

Maybe one for a new thread, but is it possible to renew my season ticket a couple of days early in order to get the weekend tickets? My current gold card expires 21st August... Then again, I'm not even sure I'm eligible (it's actually a GWR fare; the Any Permitted Basingstoke to London Travelcard).

If you renew it at a SWT station, you should get the free tickets regardless.

I'm not sure how far in advance you're allowed to renew, however.

 

[swt_passenger]

I did read somewhere that the franchise launch party might wait until after the August Waterloo work.

Probably in a thread on this very forum, where there were pages of random thoughts about suitable alternatives to Waterloo...

 

[Doctor Fegg]

They probably have the relevant web addresses registered

southwesternrailway.com is registered to FirstGroup in Aberdeen (and was first registered in 2005, though it doesn't say by who). southwesternrailway.co.uk is registered to SWT, or, at least, someone at 41-45 Blackfriars Road.

 

[pompeyfan]

There's also a twitter handle with the correct name hidden away in the depths of twitter set to private, again this will probably be awoken on the 20th of August.

 

[Clip]

Do we know anything new about South Western Railway’s new brand/colour scheme? I mean, it's exactly one month until the takeover and I can't even find a website.

Its going to be dark blue with pink wavy lines so I saw at a bash the other day

 

[Muzer]

Plan to Cap London-Exeter Rail Fares Amid South West Trains Competition Fears
By Neil Lancefield
July 19 -- Unregulated rail fares between London and Exeter could be capped amid fears that passengers may be charged more after the South West Trains (SWT) franchise was awarded to First Group.
The firm has proposed that these fares could be linked to a number of comparable routes, and it would also maintain the availability of cheaper advance tickets.
It made the suggestions in response to concerns raised by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) about London-Exeter services as First Group already operates Great Western Railway, which runs the only other train service between the cities.
Around half a million passengers a year travel on the route.
The CMA decided there are "reasonable grounds" for believing the proposals, or a modified version of them, might be acceptable to remedy the competition concerns.
It has until September 20 to consider whether to accept them or carry out a detailed investigation. A public consultation will be held as part of this process.
The SWT franchise is currently operated by Stagecoach but will be taken over by First Group in partnership with Hong Kong-based company MTR on August 20.
About 40% of rail fares are regulated by the Government, which uses the previous July's Retail Prices Index measure of inflation to determine annual increases each January.
These include season tickets on most commuter routes and some off-peak return tickets on long distance journeys.
Train operating companies set the prices of unregulated tickets.

Sounds like a logical and customer-friendly solution to me.

 

[infobleep]

Sounds like a logical and customer-friendly solution to me.

What about fares to Bristol? I'm sure when I looked up a fare on GWR, they were cheaper than via South West Trains but it may be that South Weta Trains advances had sold out when I looked, this being mid September.

 

[adamello]

Its going to be dark blue with pink wavy lines so I saw at a bash the other day

So your saying its going to be the First Groups branding that they have been moving away from, and MTR would be happy branding it as a 'First' service?

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

So your saying its going to be the First Groups branding that they have been moving away from, and MTR would be happy branding it as a 'First' service?

Well Stagecoach brand the W/ECMLs as Virgin! Plus, First own most of the franchise!

 

[TheManBehind]

Well Stagecoach brand the W/ECMLs as Virgin! Plus, First own most of the franchise!

There is a significant difference in that Virgin were brought in specifically so their branding could be used over Stagecoach's. Plus Stagecoach own 90% of VTEC, so...

Branding is highly unlikely to be FG; certainly the first couple of years its unlikely to be in its final form whilst they get round to repainting and vinyling everything. Suspect the first we'll see of the final branding scheme will be the Aventras!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Its going to be dark blue with pink wavy lines so I saw at a bash the other day

That sounds like "Dynamic Lines", which much as I like it is basically dead as a livery. I would expect gSWr or similar, though First being First they might surprise us with something completely bizarre like Horizon Trains that was going to be used for the WCML.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Well Stagecoach brand the W/ECMLs as Virgin! Plus, First own most of the franchise!

WCML is minority Stagecoach, it's 49% Stagecoach, 51% Virgin Rail Group.

ECML is indeed a Stagecoach TOC with a small stake by Virgin (not even sure if it's VRG) and a branding licence.

 

[Joe Paxton]

WCML is minority Stagecoach, it's 49% Stagecoach, 51% Virgin Rail Group.

ECML is indeed a Stagecoach TOC with a small stake by Virgin (not even sure if it's VRG) and a branding licence.

The 10% is not VRG but Virgin Group (specifically Virgin Holdings Ltd).

 

[TEW]

There are a few more FAQs up on the staff website, one concerning the increase in services to Portsmouth. It appears the new franchise will be taking a different approach to the current Portsmouth timetable, with a true 4tph service, with no overtaking of services at Haslemere.


"We are proposing the stopping service off-peak will have skip stopping, this means overall the smaller stations will still receive 1tph but it will be faster to London. The service will now provide a usable journey option every half hour from Clapham Junction to Portsmouth and we are planning to increase the number of services at Liphook. This proposal is subject to consultation once the new franchise has started."

 

[godfreycomplex]

There are a few more FAQs up on the staff website, one concerning the increase in services to Portsmouth. It appears the new franchise will be taking a different approach to the current Portsmouth timetable, with a true 4tph service, with no overtaking of services at Haslemere.


"We are proposing the stopping service off-peak will have skip stopping, this means overall the smaller stations will still receive 1tph but it will be faster to London. The service will now provide a usable journey option every half hour from Clapham Junction to Portsmouth and we are planning to increase the number of services at Liphook. This proposal is subject to consultation once the new franchise has started."

Nice to see they've kept robustness of the service in mind
Oh, hang on....

 

[Muzer]

There are a few more FAQs up on the staff website, one concerning the increase in services to Portsmouth. It appears the new franchise will be taking a different approach to the current Portsmouth timetable, with a true 4tph service, with no overtaking of services at Haslemere.


"We are proposing the stopping service off-peak will have skip stopping, this means overall the smaller stations will still receive 1tph but it will be faster to London. The service will now provide a usable journey option every half hour from Clapham Junction to Portsmouth and we are planning to increase the number of services at Liphook. This proposal is subject to consultation once the new franchise has started."

Skip-stopping is obviously very bad for people making local journeys, but I don't know how many of those there are on that line.

 

[godfreycomplex]

Skip-stopping is obviously very bad for people making local journeys, but I don't know how many of those there are on that line.

Lots.

 

[pompeyfan]

Skip-stopping is obviously very bad for people making local journeys, but I don't know how many of those there are on that line.

Petersfield - Liss - Liphook, stops between Havant and Portsmouth, and a few between Guildford and Haslemere.

 

[pompeyfan]

I've just had a look at the FAQs and can't see any new question? I've even tried a hard refresh of my browser.

 

[godfreycomplex]

Petersfield - Liss - Liphook, stops between Havant and Portsmouth, and a few between Guildford and Haslemere.

Plus pretty much all stations to Godalming for Godalming college
Dissatisfied tuts are already spreading around the North Downs, so one hopes the promised consultation will be well responded to

 

[adamello]

I've just had a look at the FAQs and can't see any new question? I've even tried a hard refresh of my browser.

theres now also q&a on the staff roadshow page

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Good for passengers travelling from Guildford to Portsmouth though. I do that quite a lot. Are the stoppers going to continue to the Harbour or terminate at P&S'sea?

 

[adamello]

I've just had a look at the FAQs and can't see any new question? I've even tried a hard refresh of my browser.

theres now also q&a on the staff roadshow page

 

[Wolfie]

There's a separate thread on this... Short answer seems to be 'yes' but with some ambiguity...

Hadn't seen this, despite looking, thanks. Good news-ish....

 

[swt_passenger]

Good for passengers travelling from Guildford to Portsmouth though. I do that quite a lot. Are the stoppers going to continue to the Harbour or terminate at P&S'sea?

Doubt it. There isn't really capacity at the harbour (PMH) - I'm sure it's why the existing stoppers generally terminate at Ports & SS. I also suspect that spreading the terminating services over 6 platforms (including the two at PMS) allows for longer layovers and more reliable departure times from that end of the route.

Personally, I'd prefer the Southamptons to run through to/from the Harbour all day as well.