South West Trains orders 150 new carriages

Plans for a £210m fleet of new trains to benefit passengers on the UK’s busiest commuter rail franchise moved forward today. South West Trains announced its intention to award the contract to manufacturer Siemens and leasing company Angel Trains.

The 30 new five-carriage Desiro City trains will boost capacity on services at South West Trains, providing for more than 18,000 extra peak-time passengers every day travelling into London Waterloo, the country’s busiest station. The train order will also allow for a further 6,000 daily peak-time passengers once infrastructure upgrades are completed on the mainline and Hounslow loop.

The first of the 150 new carriages will begin arriving in 2017 and all will be in service by early 2018.

Around 140 new jobs will also be created as a result of the new trains order. New employment opportunities will be available for engineers, drivers, guards and maintenance staff in a further boost for the rail sector.