New South Western franchise: Awarded to First/MTR

[Feathers44]

Those of down here have also got used to different colours for different types of train. So, just seeing the whole lot in one set of colours again (if that's the way it goes) will take some getting used to all on it's own.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Can't help thinking that people in SWT land now associate blue with 450s, semi-fast services and so on, so if First paint everything blue it's going to feel like all the expresses have been downgraded.

White/light grey is a great base colour for fast electric trains... DB, RENFE, and Eurostar can't all be wrong (although Eurostar have gone a little more blue recently) so I think it'll be a sad day when someone takes a dark blue paint pot to the 444s...

Gosh yes. As someone who lives slap bang in the middle of SWT territory, I have grown very used to the idea of blue being outer suburban. 444s look very smart in their livery

 

[Suraggu]

Gosh yes. As someone who lives slap bang in the middle of SWT territory, I have grown very used to the idea of blue being outer suburban. 444s look very smart in their livery

Well it will be a like it or lump it case.
Considering Portsmouth/Southampton are served by 450's on a daily basis these are hardly outer suburban destinations.

Don't forget 458/5 are in outer suburban and spend a lot of time going round the Hounslow loop, although that fits well with the diagrams.

 

[theironroad]

Well it will be a like it or lump it case.
Considering Portsmouth/Southampton are served by 450's on a daily basis these are hardly outer suburban destinations.

Don't forget 458/5 are in outer suburban and spend a lot of time going round the Hounslow loop, although that fits well with the diagrams.

450s are ideal for Portsmouth to Southampton services, even the stoppers are sub one hour. They are serving 2 cities closely located. What 450s aren't great for is Portsmouth to London, which firstmtr have recognised, even though their planned replacement for fast services is less than ideal.

 

[fgwrich]

To be frank, I'm looking forward to seeing the 444s in a new livery - They really are starting to require a long overdue repaint as are the rest of the SWT desiro fleet. As an example, spot the roof of one of the 444s through Clapham recently.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

To be frank, I'm looking forward to seeing the 444s in a new livery - They really are starting to require a long overdue repaint as are the rest of the SWT desiro fleet. As an example, spot the roof of one of the 444s through Clapham recently.

It's the Australian version if those photos are anything to go by.

 

[Rick1984]

I think itwould make sense to just remove all the swooshy vinyl, paint all the doors same colour and run them debranded until the new trains appear. Probably the 442.

At this point you could then launch the full new livery. Then gradually change the existing stock.

 

[joncombe]

To be frank, I'm looking forward to seeing the 444s in a new livery - They really are starting to require a long overdue repaint as are the rest of the SWT desiro fleet. As an example, spot the roof of one of the 444s through Clapham recently.

I think they also need work on the doors. It seems quite common for at least one door to fail to open and have to be pulled open by the passengers. It especially a problem at Clapham Junction where the camber of the track makes the train slightky lean away from the pkatform.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Let's just hope they don't take as long as GWR to rebrand. They're taking forever.

 

[infobleep]

Personally I prefer the blue to white. As for the colour used by the 700s on the Thameslink branded route, give me the blue any day. It'd not that I really hate those colours as such, just that I prefer the blue.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

[Bletchleyite]

I must admit that much as I'm not a 700-hater, the white livery is incredibly boring and will soon show the muck badly.

 

[pompeyfan]

I think they also need work on the doors. It seems quite common for at least one door to fail to open and have to be pulled open by the passengers. It especially a problem at Clapham Junction where the camber of the track makes the train slightky lean away from the pkatform.

If anything leaning towards the platform helps as gravity helps the mechanism, there is admittedly a few stations on the network where issues are common, but it's always to do with the track camber. Rowlands Castle on the up, Witley on the down, Hamble on the up is 3 that comes to mind straight away.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Hopefully the new franchise will result in First teaching the staff what a smile is and how to communicate better with passengers, I was down in SWT land and used a number of their services at the weekend, encountered about 5-6 staff, from gate-line to on train and station staff, all looked like they were depressed and deeply unhappy, the kind who you say a word to but they don't reply and just look like they want to be anywhere but there.

Is morale really that bad about Stagecoach losing the franchise? They looked very miserable, about as bad as the staff at Colchester did during the 'one' days in East Anglia.

 

[vikingdriver]

Hopefully the new franchise will result in First teaching the staff what a smile is and how to communicate better with passengers, I was down in SWT land and used a number of their services at the weekend, encountered about 5-6 staff, from gate-line to on train and station staff, all looked like they were depressed and deeply unhappy, the kind who you say a word to but they don't reply and just look like they want to be anywhere but there.

Is morale really that bad about Stagecoach losing the franchise? They looked very miserable, about as bad as the staff at Colchester did during the 'one' days in East Anglia.

Certainly where I work the loss of the franchise is not the cause of low morale!

 

[HH]

I must admit that much as I'm not a 700-hater, the white livery is incredibly boring and will soon show the muck badly.

Well at least when they can run more than a couple of hundred miles without breaking down...

 

[Muzer]

Hopefully the new franchise will result in First teaching the staff what a smile is and how to communicate better with passengers, I was down in SWT land and used a number of their services at the weekend, encountered about 5-6 staff, from gate-line to on train and station staff, all looked like they were depressed and deeply unhappy, the kind who you say a word to but they don't reply and just look like they want to be anywhere but there.

Is morale really that bad about Stagecoach losing the franchise? They looked very miserable, about as bad as the staff at Colchester did during the 'one' days in East Anglia.

It's called the south of England. If you want smiles, go back north or west

 

[Muzer]

Dark blue is already carried by 127 450s that will remain with the franchise. About another 85 units that remain are white over a similar blue.

Wonder if that has 'coloured' their decision at all...

Sorry, I'm confused - are they letting go of some of the 450s?

 

[swt_passenger]

Sorry, I'm confused - are they letting go of some of the 450s?

No, I'm only saying there are 127 of them, already mainly blue, and they form a significant majority of the fleet that is staying.

There are however 36 other blue units, the 458/5s, and they are leaving...

 

[F Great Eastern]

It's called the south of England. If you want smiles, go back north or west

I live in East Anglia and the staff here can manage it!

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

It's called the south of England. If you want smiles, go back north or west

Charming... as a Surrey resident I'll ignore that shall I?

 

[bb21]

Charming... as a Surrey resident I'll ignore that shall I?

As you are north of Winchester, northerner!

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Charming... as a Surrey resident I'll ignore that shall I?

As the saying goes "The truth hurts", most of Surrey commuters have faces like a smacked bottle.

 

[Olaf]

As the saying goes "The truth hurts", most of Surrey commuters have faces like a smacked bottle.

The rail staff are no different, and are the cause of the disposition of rail passengers.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

As the saying goes "The truth hurts", most of Surrey commuters have faces like a smacked bottle.

Lovely...

You're probably right though!

 

[Matt Taylor]

The rail staff are no different, and are the cause of the disposition of rail passengers.

Really? I think you'll find it has more to do with high fares, overcrowding and frequent infrastructure failures. I've spent the last week working with passengers in the heart of Surrey and have to disagree with your opinion.

 

[3141]

It's called the south of England. If you want smiles, go back north or west

The staff I mostly meet are the guards on the class 159s, who are usually perfectly normal and friendly. Occasionally I'm on a 444 from Basingstoke and they're normal as well. The man I spoke to in the ticket office at Waterloo last week didn't smile but there was no reason to, and he was efficient and co-operative.

 

[700007]

We're one step closer to South Western Railway now....

The station announcements at London Waterloo now have 'new' Celia as of today (or yesterday) and she sounds really depressed. Bring back Old Celia! These new announcements also have South Western Railway on them for use from 20th August.

All other stations at the moment still have Old Celia and Phil for the time being which is a good thing, it's only London Waterloo from what I know.

 

[TEW]

A small number of stations went over to new Celia over the winter, any further rollout appeared to stop once the franchise announcement was made.

 

[F Great Eastern]

If you're bored of Ceila maybe if you asked nicely they could bring back "Boofay"

 

[HarleyDavidson]

There was a spell where the announcements sounded like "The old woman" who used to be on Steve Wrights Radio 2 afternoon show.