A new South West Trains £1.2bn Rail Franchise began yesterday and the train operator has promised to implement wide-ranging improvements during the franchise term, which will run for seven to 10 years, depending on performance.

The new franchise also incorporates the eight and a half mile Island Line on the Isle of Wight.  South West Trains and Island Line have always shared a managing director but are now incorporated within the same franchise.

Stewart Palmer, South West Trains’ managing director said:

“These are exciting times for both South West Trains and our passengers.  We are under no illusions about the challenges we face; over the next 10 years we will have to pay the government over £1bn but with more ticket barriers, more ticket machines and the extension of bargain ticket schemes such as megatrain.com, we are opening up a lot more opportunities to generate and collect revenue.”
 
During the next 10 years the company has pledged to spend around £40m on core station improvements including better subways, lighting, waiting rooms, booking halls, toilets, shelters, seats and CCTV cameras on every mainland station and train.  Additionally, every station will be repainted at a total cost of £9m and the smartcard technology that South West Trains plan to introduce at mainland stations will also be extended to Island Line. 

The company has promised a significant increase in train capacity, with 21% more mainline peak seats and a 20% increase in peak suburban capacity.  However, this will be partly achieved by replacing 2×2 seating with 3×2 on some services and removing seats and toilets on some metro trains. SWT says it will install a further 160 self-service ticket vending machines to reduce ticket office queues.

Stewart Palmer added:

“Capacity is a going to be a major issue over the next decade, not just for South West Trains but for the rail industry as a whole. We have progressed steadily through the years and are now giving passengers some of the highest performance levels they have ever had.   We must continue to build on our successes; this is the most complex franchise anywhere on the UK rail network but we are up to the challenge and are ready to deliver.”

Source: Transport

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