| | 
South West Trains
Stagecoach Rail Ltd/Stagecoach Group plc
| | |
South West Trains
expired franchise
replaced
< Island Line
< South West Trains
was replaced by
South Western Railway >
start date
4 February 2007
end date
20 August 2017
owned by
Stagecoach Rail Ltd/Stagecoach Group plc
legal title
Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited
description
The current franchise began in 2007. It also included the Isle of Wight route from Ryde to Shanklin, which had been operated by Stagecoach Group as a separate contract, Island Line, since 1996.
SWT was nominated in early 2012 as the first of the 'deep alliances' evolved by Network Rail, which seemed likely to restore a greater measure of vertical integration than had been the case since privatisation was launched in the 1990s. (Separate managing directors for South West Trains and Network Rail within the Alliance were named in June 2015, suggesting the alliance is now less 'deep' than before.)
The franchise was originally intended to end on 4 February 2014, with a further three years depending upon performance. In 2013 it was extended provisionally to April 2019. Negotiations over this additional contract, which would have been a direct award, did not succeed (announcement 7 July 2015) and a replacement franchise (FirstGroup/MTR) started on 20 August 2017.
service area
Commuter, outer suburban and regional services from London Waterloo to Portsmouth, Weymouth, Southampton, Exeter. Outer London local services and Ryde-Shanklin (I.O.W.)
| |
![]()
| |
