SWR improvements under GBR

[whole diary]

[John D]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has listed some improvements for nationalised operators under GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) as part of its livery launch

South Western Railway

In public ownership, South Western Railway are:

Modernising and improving their West of England Fleet, with a programme beginning in December 2025 (to be completed during 2028). This will overhaul the 15X fleet serving the West of England, improving performance and reliability of the trains while delivering customer benefits such as interior upgrades and at-seat USB power.

Delivering the new Arterio fleet to transform their suburban network, with over 50% of morning high peak arrivals into Waterloo now on Arterio trains. These provide increased capacity and more comfort for passengers. SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) are aiming for most Arterios to be introduced by the end of Summer 2026 (75% of total schedules).

Building a new timetable for the first time in 20 years, by consulting with stakeholders and passengers, with design in early 2026 and a full public consultation in Autumn 2026. The timetable transformation will seek to strike the right balance between enhanced connectivity in their communities, more services and capacity, better train performance on the network and increased economic value for the taxpayer.

Investing over £600 million in improving infrastructure performance to reduce delays and cancellations, complete by March 2027. This includes track and signal renewals, level crossing upgrades, and renewal of associated infrastructure, with projects such as West of England line resilience works, London Waterloo-Clapham Junction upgrades, Island Line improvements, and strengthening the railway at Fareham-Havant and Portsmouth Harbour.

Recruiting more drivers to improve reliability and reduce cancellations, with an increase in the numbers of drivers in active service each year, and increase the number of new drivers in training by 50%.

https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/gbr-improvements-train-operators-in-public-ownership-are-making-for-customers

[a-driver]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has listed some improvements for nationalised operators under GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) as part of its livery launch

South Western Railway

In public ownership, South Western Railway are:

Modernising and improving their West of England Fleet, with a programme beginning in December 2025 (to be completed during 2028). This will overhaul the 15X fleet serving the West of England, improving performance and reliability of the trains while delivering customer benefits such as interior upgrades and at-seat USB power.

Delivering the new Arterio fleet to transform their suburban network, with over 50% of morning high peak arrivals into Waterloo now on Arterio trains. These provide increased capacity and more comfort for passengers. SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) are aiming for most Arterios to be introduced by the end of Summer 2026 (75% of total schedules).

Building a new timetable for the first time in 20 years, by consulting with stakeholders and passengers, with design in early 2026 and a full public consultation in Autumn 2026. The timetable transformation will seek to strike the right balance between enhanced connectivity in their communities, more services and capacity, better train performance on the network and increased economic value for the taxpayer.

Investing over £600 million in improving infrastructure performance to reduce delays and cancellations, complete by March 2027. This includes track and signal renewals, level crossing upgrades, and renewal of associated infrastructure, with projects such as West of England line resilience works, London Waterloo-Clapham Junction upgrades, Island Line improvements, and strengthening the railway at Fareham-Havant and Portsmouth Harbour.

Recruiting more drivers to improve reliability and reduce cancellations, with an increase in the numbers of drivers in active service each year, and increase the number of new drivers in training by 50%.

https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/gbr-improvements-train-operators-in-public-ownership-are-making-for-customers

That's it!

Modernising the 15x fleet was due anyway, it's a necessity rather then choice.

Building a timetable.  Standard twice yearly stuff

Infrastructure, again that's necessity rather than choice when something becomes life expired.

Delivering the new Arterio fleet, did that not commence prior to nationalisation?

Recruiting more drivers.  No real numbers given so, 1 is an increase! 

It's not setting the bar high for the new GBR.

[Bob_Blakey]

DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) has listed some improvements for nationalised operators under GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) as part of its livery launch

South Western Railway
In public ownership, South Western Railway are:
Modernising and improving their West of England Fleet, .....improving performance and reliability of the trains while delivering customer benefits such as interior upgrades and at-seat USB power. .....Building a new timetable for the first time in 20 years.....Investing over £600 million in improving infrastructure performance.....with projects such as West of England line resilience works.....

https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/gbr-improvements-train-operators-in-public-ownership-are-making-for-customers

All the current Class 159 trains have been in service since, at the latest, 1993. At a minimum of 32 years old and, surely approaching retirement, would new (multi-modal?) rolling stock not be a better option?

I wonder if one of the customer benefits being delivered would include the possibility of getting a cup of tea, etc. via a reinstated trolley service. 

The current timetable is seemingly the best that can be provided with the existing infrastructure; between Salisbury & Pinhoe even a minor delay can cause the overall service to collapse (recently a Waterloo-bound train was held at PIN for 40 minutes waiting for a late westbound service). Do the 'West of England line resilience works' include any actual infrastructure improvements? As a bare minimum I think the Tisbury loop should be moved to the station and the second platforms at Templecombe & Crewkerne reinstated.
 

[bradshaw]

I would agree about Tisbury and Templecombe. However, when the Cl159s were introduced the up platform at Crewkerne was raised to make access easier. It was also extended outwards to ease the limited width under the road bridge.
The result is that there is no longer a track bed width that would support double track without taking a chunk out of the old down platform. While possible the land behind has been sold off for housing, meaning that the width of the platform would be restricted. The road bridge would also need to be reconstructed to give adequate clearance to a shifted track.