South West Trains and the Department for Transport have announced that funding has been approved for the train operator to purchase an additional 48 rail carriages for its commuter routes.
The carriages will be used to ‘boost capacity on South West Trains’ services travelling into Waterloo by an extra 40 carriages in the morning and 37 carriages in the evening’.
Justine Greening said:
“Today’s good news is part of the Government’s programme of providing additional capacity on the railway and will benefit passengers across the South West Trains network.
“So whether you are in Guildford or Portsmouth, Ascot or Basingstoke, Eastleigh or Exeter, Alton or Aldershot you’ll be getting better services and more seats –which adds up to a real win-win for passengers.”
The extra carriages are Class 456 vehicles which are being cascaded from Southern Railways.
They will be introduced into service between March and December 2014.
Additional capacity will be provided on 17 separate services travelling in and out of Waterloo together with the creation of two additional 8-car morning services from Raynes Park to London.
So just how does an increase in EMU carriages improve the number of seats for those in Exeter? I am sure there is an explanation somewhere.
It will release a class 158 from the electrified Lyminton Branch line