Extra train seats '˜really positive news' says South Western Railway boss

Since a new timetable was introduced in December 2017, South Western Railway (SWR) says it has added an additional 11,000 seats on routes to and from London Waterloo – many of which terminate at Portsmouth Harbour.

Existing trains on these routes have transferred onto Reading services to boost capacity on other routes.

The last of the new fleet of Class 707 trains was brought into service today.

Managing director of SWR Andy Mellors said: ‘The introduction of the new fleet of trains is really positive news for our passengers as they have unlocked capacity across other parts of the network and enabled us to add more seats through the morning and evening peak period at Waterloo.

‘Introducing these trains has meant that we have been able to make use of existing stock in the best possible way and implement significant improvements.

‘Passengers will have hopefully noticed the difference already – especially during peak hours.’

Network Rail’s route managing director Becky Lumlock said: ‘It’s fantastic to see the benefits of our £800 million upgrade at Waterloo and across the route reaching passengers, with longer trains and more comfortable journeys.

‘The August works saw 1,000 Network Rail engineers and track-side staff working over three and half weeks to prepare for longer trains, making significant changes to platforms, signalling and tracks.’