Funny that those trains are old enough to have been introduced under nationalisation, then privatised, then renationalised.
Nice one lad
At 05:36 on Sunday, 25 May 2025, I boarded the first nationalised South Western Railway (SWR) train [1], which departed from Woking and terminated at Surbiton in southwest London. It would have continued to London Waterloo were it not for engineering works that weekend. There were a couple of genuine passengers, a few passengers who travelled for the occasion, and journalists from the BBC [1], The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
There was nothing new about the journey. The train was a Class 455 electric multiple-unit train, had the same South Western Railway branding, and the driver had been working on the railway for many years. Still, the backend was different, with SWR now the first train operating company nationalised under Labour. However, several train operators have already been under public ownership for years. Only a couple of extra passengers boarded at the stations along the way, and the train remained almost empty as it approached Surbiton.
At Surbiton, the train terminated, and we all had to alight and change to a rail replacement bus service, which took an hour to get to Clapham Junction. At Clapham Junction, there was a twenty-six-minute wait for the next train to London Waterloo. The train that arrived was a Class 701, one of SWR’s newest trains. We boarded that train for the last leg into London Waterloo. Overall, the journey took four times as long as it would have without engineering works.
During the journey, journalists from The Times and The Telegraph interviewed me. The interview with The Telegraph took place onboard the train, and the interview with The Times took place onboard the rail replacement bus service. I also briefly interviewed with Times Radio. I took a video of the full journey from Woking to Surbiton and short clips of the journey at Clapham Junction [2].
Why does the first nationalised train have to look 30 years old?
Really hope that things start improving now.
Every time I get to Waterloo and I see one of those at the platform my heart sinks. This week has been unbearable.
Southeastern were effectively nationalised a few years ago, and little has improved. 😔 I’m in favour of nationalisation of the railways but little will improve if the bean counters at HMT and Daft are allowed to run it.
Nationalise the rolling stock!
This train shouldn’t be nationalised. It should be replaced as outdated. I took one of these yesterday. They even don’t have AC with 30 degrees heat outside
First nationalised train having a rail replacement bus doesn’t sound like a good omen 😂
Looks like Rick Astley is giving this interview.
Who is the man?
Was it late
Yeah, they picked a shit day for the launch, engineering works fucked that part of the network.
I had to use buses to get where I wanted.
Once the public sector have forked out for all the debt accrued by its former private owners It’ll soon go back into private ownership. This isn’t about lowering costs, it’s about the private sector avoiding footing the bill for their mismanagement
wow…. state of the art trains… sexy…😂
These trains are so old and crap – need sorting asap
17 comments
Funny that those trains are old enough to have been introduced under nationalisation, then privatised, then renationalised.
Nice one lad
At 05:36 on Sunday, 25 May 2025, I boarded the first nationalised South Western Railway (SWR) train [1], which departed from Woking and terminated at Surbiton in southwest London. It would have continued to London Waterloo were it not for engineering works that weekend. There were a couple of genuine passengers, a few passengers who travelled for the occasion, and journalists from the BBC [1], The Times and The Daily Telegraph.
There was nothing new about the journey. The train was a Class 455 electric multiple-unit train, had the same South Western Railway branding, and the driver had been working on the railway for many years. Still, the backend was different, with SWR now the first train operating company nationalised under Labour. However, several train operators have already been under public ownership for years. Only a couple of extra passengers boarded at the stations along the way, and the train remained almost empty as it approached Surbiton.
At Surbiton, the train terminated, and we all had to alight and change to a rail replacement bus service, which took an hour to get to Clapham Junction. At Clapham Junction, there was a twenty-six-minute wait for the next train to London Waterloo. The train that arrived was a Class 701, one of SWR’s newest trains. We boarded that train for the last leg into London Waterloo. Overall, the journey took four times as long as it would have without engineering works.
During the journey, journalists from The Times and The Telegraph interviewed me. The interview with The Telegraph took place onboard the train, and the interview with The Times took place onboard the rail replacement bus service. I also briefly interviewed with Times Radio. I took a video of the full journey from Woking to Surbiton and short clips of the journey at Clapham Junction [2].
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgdv4nzvk2o
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7z-d8fXjCM
Why does the first nationalised train have to look 30 years old?
Really hope that things start improving now.
Every time I get to Waterloo and I see one of those at the platform my heart sinks. This week has been unbearable.
Southeastern were effectively nationalised a few years ago, and little has improved. 😔 I’m in favour of nationalisation of the railways but little will improve if the bean counters at HMT and Daft are allowed to run it.
Nationalise the rolling stock!
This train shouldn’t be nationalised. It should be replaced as outdated. I took one of these yesterday. They even don’t have AC with 30 degrees heat outside
First nationalised train having a rail replacement bus doesn’t sound like a good omen 😂
Looks like Rick Astley is giving this interview.
Who is the man?
Was it late
Yeah, they picked a shit day for the launch, engineering works fucked that part of the network.
I had to use buses to get where I wanted.
Once the public sector have forked out for all the debt accrued by its former private owners It’ll soon go back into private ownership. This isn’t about lowering costs, it’s about the private sector avoiding footing the bill for their mismanagement
wow…. state of the art trains… sexy…😂
These trains are so old and crap – need sorting asap
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