SWR outgoing Metro fleet withdrawals (complete)

[45076]

Raxstar at Eastleigh scrapped quite a lot of stock (313s, 442s, 317s, LT stock and lots more) but they no longer trade at Eastleigh. I was told that they relocated to Cardiff but I can not confirm this.

Didn't Raxstar send the broken bits to Newport for export?

 

[Rich the Eagle]

Class 455 Allocations - Tuesday December 23rd
Final Day of Planned Operations

WM601/602 - 5719+5729

5G10 05:38 Guildford UCS - Guildford 05:49
2G10 06:04 Guildford - London Waterloo 07:08
2F09 07:17 London Waterloo - Woking 08:08
2F96 08:20 Woking - London Waterloo 09:04
5Y83 09:22 London Waterloo - Wimbledon Park D 10:11

WM601/602 - 5712+5716

5F91 15:54 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs - London Waterloo 16:34
2F91 17:02 London Waterloo - Guildford 17:57
2G58 18:04 Guildford - London Waterloo 19:07
2M57 19:17 London Waterloo - Chessington Sth 19:51
2M64 20:10 Chessington Sth - London Waterloo 20:46
2D63 20:53 London Waterloo - Guildford 22:02 (via Epsom)
2D78 22:45 Guildford - London Waterloo 23:56 (via Epsom)
5Y79 00:29 London Waterloo - Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs 1:06

WM603/604 - 5721+5732

5G05 05:44 Waterloo C.H.S. - London Waterloo 05:46
2G05 06:00 London Waterloo - Guildford 07:01
2D18 07:42 Guildford - London Waterloo 08:55
2J17 09:06 London Waterloo - Hampton Court 09:43
2J24 09:54 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 10:31
2D23 10:53 London Waterloo - Guildford 12:02
2D36 12:45 Guildford - London Waterloo 13:55
2J37 14:06 London Waterloo - Hampton Court 14:43
2J44 14:54 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 15:31
2D43 15:53 London Waterloo - Guildford 17:02
2G54 17:09 Guildford - London Waterloo 18:10
2F53 18:20 London Waterloo - Woking 19:10
2F62 19:33 Woking - London Waterloo 20:22
2G63 20:33 London Waterloo - Guildford 21:37 (via Cobham)
2G74 22:04 Guildford - London Waterloo 23:10 (via Cobham)
2F73 23:20 London Waterloo - Woking 00:10
5Y73 00:17 Woking - Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs 00:57

WM605/606 - 5870+5873

5J97 05:23 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs - Hampton Court 05:45
2J08 05:54 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 06:31
1D07 06:39 London Waterloo - Dorking 07:33
1D16 07:48 Dorking - London Waterloo 08:46
2G17 09:03 London Waterloo - Guildford 10:07
2G28 10:34 Guildford - London Waterloo 11:37
2F27 11:50 London Waterloo - Woking 12:38
2F36 13:03 Woking - London Waterloo 13:52
2G37 14:03 London Waterloo - Guildford 15:07
2G48 15:34 Guildford - London Waterloo 16:37
2F47 16:50 London Waterloo - Woking 17:40
2F56 18:03 Woking - London Waterloo 18:52
2G57 19:03 London Waterloo - Guildford 20:05
2G68 20:34 Guildford - London Waterloo 21:37
2F67 21:50 London Waterloo - Woking 22:38
2F80 23:04 Woking - London Waterloo 23:55
5Y68 00:07 London Waterloo - Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs 00:54

5727+5871

5D89 0529 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs - Epsom - Up Sidings 0603
5D90 0611 Epsom - Up Sidings - Epsom 0613
2D90 0618 Epsom - London Waterloo 0656
2J09 0706 London Waterloo - Hampton Court 0743
2J16 0753 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 0833
2D15 0853 London Waterloo - Guildford 1002
2D28 1045 Guildford - London Waterloo 1155
2J29 1206 London Waterloo - Hampton Court 1243
2J36 1254 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 1331
2D35 1353 London Waterloo - Guildford 1502
2D48 1528 Guildford - London Waterloo 1646
2J49 1706 London Waterloo - Hampton Court 1743
2J56 1754 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 1831
2D55 1853 London Waterloo - Guildford 2012
2D68 2045 Guildford - London Waterloo 2155
2J69 2206 London Waterloo - Hampton Court 2243
2J76 2254 Hampton Court - London Waterloo 2331
5Y46 2352 London Waterloo - Clapham Yard Sidings 0019


Class 458/5 Allocations - Tuesday December 23rd

458530

5R02 0538 Staines C.H.S. - Hounslow 0559
2R02 0601 Hounslow - London Waterloo 0638
2S11 0652 London Waterloo - Weybridge 0808
2S20 0833 Weybridge - London Waterloo 0957
5Y86 1010 London Waterloo - Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs 1059

458533

5C09 0542 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs - London Waterloo 0558
2C09 0620 London Waterloo - Reading 0742
2C20 0809 Reading - London Waterloo 0935
2C23 0950 London Waterloo - Reading 1113
2C34 1139 Reading - London Waterloo 1305

2V43 1537 London Waterloo - London Waterloo 1700
2R49 1715 London Waterloo - London Waterloo 1841
2S59 1852 London Waterloo - Weybridge 2010
2S68 2033 Weybridge - London Waterloo 2156
2U73 2233 London Waterloo - Windsor & Eton Riverside 2326
2U80 2337 Windsor & Eton Riverside - Staines 2351
5U80 2355 Staines - Staines C.H.S. 2359

458535

5C05 0450 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs - London Waterloo 0509
2C05 0526 London Waterloo - Reading 0648
2C16 0709 Reading - London Waterloo 0836
5Y81 0850 London Waterloo - Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs 0943

5S47 1523 Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs - London Waterloo 1539
2S47 1552 London Waterloo - Weybridge 1708
2S56 1740 Weybridge - London Waterloo 1856
2V57 1907 London Waterloo - Twickenham 1956
5V58 2000 Twickenham - London Waterloo 2022 (Reminder: ECS)
2S73 2222 London Waterloo - Weybridge 2338
5Y66 2342 Weybridge - Wimbledon Park Depot Sdgs 0027


Class 150 Move to Mid-Hants Railway / Watercress Line

Worth looking out for if you are near Woking at about 2pm:
5Q15 0858 Derby Litchurch Lane to Alton 1530

 

[wickham]

Didn't Raxstar send the broken bits to Newport for export?

If they did sent the scrap to Newport, it went by road as no commercial scrap trains have ever run from Eastleigh to my knowledge. There is also a scrap export site in Southampton Docks - more likely the stuff went there ?

 

[norbitonflyer]

Class 150 Move to Mid-Hants Railway / Watercress Line

Worth looking out for if you are near Woking at about 2pm:
5Q15 0858 Derby Litchurch Lane to Alton 1530

Quite a convoluted route, via Worcester, Oxford, and Basingstoke. Any reason it couldn't have gone via the MML,and the Dudding Hill line, and Hounslow?

 

[sad1e]

Any reason it couldn't have gone via the MML,and the Dudding Hill line, and Hounslow?

Sprinters aren't Cleared south of Bedford on the MML iirc.

 

[RealTrains07]

I’ve noticed that 719 and 729 have been swapped for 712 and 716 this afternoon on the WM601/602 workings

 

[Rich the Eagle]

I’ve noticed that 719 and 729 have been swapped for 712 and 716 this afternoon on the WM601/602 workings

I just saw that - thanks - main post is updated.

 

[hotel_mode]

458530 Doesn’t appear to want to leave Wimbledon depot. Or might just be delayed.

 

[Rich the Eagle]

458530 Doesn’t appear to want to leave Wimbledon depot. Or might just be delayed.

Its afternoon work is now being done by 458535. 458530 is not expected to be out again today.

 

[Colby James]

Okay well..
All might not be the end I just hope one 455 gets saved maybe one coach the driving one be saved.

I just hope a legacy gets saved

 

[sad1e]

Okay well..
All might not be the end I just hope one 455 gets saved maybe one coach the driving one be saved.

I just hope a legacy gets saved

Speaking on preservation I've heard that 5868 has been signed off to EMR Kingsbury along with other 455s at Litchurch lane. Sadly it seems like preservation efforts for it have fallen through.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Speaking on preservation I've heard that 5868 has been signed off to EMR Kingsbury along with other 455s at Litchurch lane. Sadly it seems like preservation efforts for it have fallen through.

A member of the Southern Rail Electric Units group on Facebook was bragging about having acquired one today? He was also insisting they’ll be seeing work until March/April though, so I’m not sure I take this with anything more than a pinch of salt.

 

[EYFanatic]

5871 is said on twitter to have been withdrawn upon arriving at the depot

Can't post the link strangely because the copy and paste is disabled on my device right now

 

[NSEWonderer]

Today I believe is the last day of diagrammed 455s?

 

[WWTownEnth]

Today I believe is the last day of diagrammed 455s?

That‘s the view of most well imformed contributors

 

[lewisf]

And the passengers will benefit from a shiny clean pair of 455s today....

It’s a real shame that SWR let the fleet get so grubby. Back in SWT days the red used to really pop so it was nice to see again one last time.

 

[fb2126]

It’s a real shame that SWR let the fleet get so grubby. Back in SWT days the red used to really pop so it was nice to see again one last time.

Likely SWR didn't want to put as much effort into keeping the 455s clean as they knew they would be gone soon. Towards the end the 455s had increasingly more graffiti and dirt on them.

 

[Feathers44]

It’s a real shame that SWR let the fleet get so grubby. Back in SWT days the red used to really pop so it was nice to see again one last time.

Platform staff at one station yesterday were telling me they’d never been washed until now. I had to disagree..but then, I remember their introduction back in the 80’s.

 

[Goldfish62]

It’s a real shame that SWR let the fleet get so grubby. Back in SWT days the red used to really pop so it was nice to see again one last time.

Can't see any difference myself. The interiors were just as grubby under SWT.

 

[Invincible]

Platform staff at one station yesterday were telling me they’d never been washed until now. I had to disagree..but then, I remember their introduction back in the 80’s.

In 2018 "South Western Railway (SWR) delivered on a key pledge to deep-clean every train across the network."
"That’s why we’ve committed to deep-cleaning our trains every 30 days"
What happened to that?
Perhaps COVID and never restarted on the 455s?

Dishing the dirt the numbers behind cleaning South Western Railway trains

www.southwesternrailway.com

 

[norbitonflyer]

Seems there are none on stand-in duty today. So this is the first day in probably 42 years (other than Christmas Day) when there have been none in service

 

[adc82140]

Seems there are none on stand-in duty today. So this is the first day in probably 42 years (other than Christmas Day) when there have been none in service

I *think* there may have been a Sunday a month or so ago, but I can't be certain of that.

 

[Goldfish62]

In 2018 "South Western Railway (SWR) delivered on a key pledge to deep-clean every train across the network."
"That’s why we’ve committed to deep-cleaning our trains every 30 days"
What happened to that?
Perhaps COVID and never restarted on the 455s?

Dishing the dirt the numbers behind cleaning South Western Railway trains

www.southwesternrailway.com

SWT only deep cleaned trains every nine months - and it showed!

 

[bb21]

Seems there are none on stand-in duty today. So this is the first day in probably 42 years (other than Christmas Day) when there have been none in service

There are now 34 701s authorised for service and from today the requirement goes down to 26 (as opposed to 32 on a normal weekday) so realistically no one expected 455s to cover.

 

[moley]

So presumably, by the time everyone gets back to work on Monday 5 January, we might be looking at 32/35 required?

 

[Stephen42]

So presumably, by the time everyone gets back to work on Monday 5 January, we might be looking at 32/35 required?

Last week/earlier this week the requirement was 32 701 diagrams and 3 pairs of 455 diagrams. Unless the other fleets can be stretched more which seems unlikely it will be 35 701s required from 34 units plus any cleared for passenger service before then to have no 455s out.

The extra 458/5 could be used to reduce the 701 requirement by 1 at the cost of a 5-car formation. It should be possible to cover with 455s instead on other diagrams.

 

[Deepgreen]

Speaking on preservation I've heard that 5868 has been signed off to EMR Kingsbury along with other 455s at Litchurch lane. Sadly it seems like preservation efforts for it have fallen through.

I had heard, perhaps wrongly, that the costs of transport by rail (mostly the insurance against a failure accruing penalties for the operator) had precluded that, and that four separate road journeys to preservation were also prohibitively expensive. The rail movement option, if true, is a farce and simply an accounting barrier, as the likelihood of a recently-running unit under tow failing so badly as to cause an issue must be negligible.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Dec 2025 ==

The two farewell tours meet at Guildford:

 

[Bikeman78]

I had heard, perhaps wrongly, that the costs of transport by rail (mostly the insurance against a failure accruing penalties for the operator) had precluded that, and that four separate road journeys to preservation were also prohibitively expensive. The rail movement option, if true, is a farce and simply an accounting barrier, as the likelihood of a recently-running unit under tow failing so badly as to cause an issue must be negligible.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Dec 2025 ==

The two farewell tours meet at Guildford: View attachment 194694

Lovely photo. I was in the 508 trailer on the left. An excellent day out. It did everything it promised. I've known the 455s pretty much all my life. I was seven when they started running on the central division. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine they would be popular enough to fill two sell out railtours 40 years later. The two tours passed at Guildford again about an hour later. Simultaneous north and southbound departures.

 

[ls2270]

Very disappointed (due to being abroad on holiday) i couldn’t do one of the 455 farewell tours. My first memory of one was as a 12 year old travelling on a brand new 59xx unit from Clapham Junction to Syon Lane with my late Mum. Its bright lime green seats and orange doors were such a contrast to the drab wood on the EPBs i travelled on every day in SE London! And it was so new that, much to my confusion, it didn’t appear in my 1985 Ian Allan EMUs ABC. Happy memories!

 

[Big Jumby 74]

The two farewell tours meet at Guildford:

Brilliant picture!