South Western Railway 1st Class - the alternative route, Exeter St David’s to London Waterloo

Join me on board a South Western Railway Class 194 on the alternative route between Devon and London.
Exeter St David’s to London Waterloo in 1st class.
A massive thank you to my Patreons:
Daniel Jones.
Stormhammer Firebrand
Peter Harrison
Tak Lau
Anonymous donator
Fenton:
• JESUS CHRIST IN RICHMO...
Date of Travel - 3rd August 2021.
Departure Station - Exeter St David’s, Devon, England.
Arrival Station - London Waterloo, England.
Class of Travel - 1st Class.
Rolling Stock - Class 185
Cost of Journey - £15.10.
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[@kiwitrains]

I like that livery of South Western Railway 👍

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Agree, it looks very smart.

[@amtrakharry]

That was and excellent trip report !!! Thank you for sharing this with us...:):):)

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Cheers mate - totally appreciate the comment.

[@ernestparker3648]

Train seats look good and a darn site better than the concrete variety on gwr. It will be the way to go for me.

[@TheGeordieTravels]

The seats are by far better than GWR and the price if tickets are by far better too!?

[@cedriclynch]

The second class seats in these trains are also very comfortable and they line up with the windows better than the first class seats. This is because the bodywork was originally designed for the Class 158 which was second class only when first introduced.

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

I’ve used this route before,I prefer the GWR route because being quicker it gives more time in north Devon as I visit the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway at Woody Bay near Lynton via the train to Barnstaple and the 300 bus to Lynton run by Filers.

[@derisleybrittain]

Superb footage 🥳🥳🥳👍👍👍💖💖😇😇😍😍👊👊😀😀😄😄😄

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Thanks - appreciated

[@jamiemyers4696]

Use this service every morning and evening to commute to and from Exeter from my station of "FENTON FENTON FENTON" as you put it 🤣. Honestly service has gone way down hill, its now been 3 weeks and 4 days since i last had a train that wasnt cancelled or delayed by >20mins. Scenery nice tho so thats a plus, nice video

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Hi mate, thanks for watching appreciated.

[@christophernoble6810]

Interior is the same as SWT, only exterior different. Clapham Junction in its heyday had 2,500 trains per 24 hours. Zurich has 2,915 trains per 24 hours which is the busiest station in Europe, although far from the busiest in terms of passenger numbers.

[@neilcrawford8303]

It's a miles better journey going via Salisbury. First time I did that journey it was class 50 traction. My last day trip to Exeter was just before SWR sadly took control. I could have caught a train from Surbiton to Woking and changed there, but to get the full experience I used to travel into Waterloo from Epsom and then do the entire journey to Exeter. Even in the HST days, I still preferred the SWT service over GWR. The 159s are lovely and SWT did some cracking advanced 1st fares. I don't get all this spending £billions to save twenty minutes on a journey. I'd rather have a slightly longer journey on a comfortable train, than a slightly quicker journey in an uncomfortable train. I've gone as far as Totnes on a SWT service, in the days when some services went beyond Exeter. The Waterloo-Bristol was also good service, although Wirst are removing the Salisbury-Bristol leg. The SWT 158 & 159 fleet was the most reliable of the class/type on the network. SWT won Golden Spanner awards for their maintenance regime, other TOCs would visit Salisbury to learn their secret. Basically good planning, knowing the rolling stock, pre-emptive maintenance, keeping spares available so parts or modules could be replaced quickly. Having spoken to some ex SWT staff, Wirst came in and did their best to xxxx it up. Love the London suburbs comment when you get to Woking, that'll upset some, Woking is well inside Surrey, the first/last London station is Surbiton, beyond that, Esher etc it's Surrey. That said, I agree with you, it is getting to be a concrete jungle, Guildford is traffic jams at the peak times and can feel more like an outer London suburb than a country town in Surrey. It's one reason I've moved the North West and close to the countryside of Lancashire.

[@maimadha]

Taking a SWR 159 to Exeter is better than using a GWR 802

[@tapemaj]

Well done !!

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Thank you - appreciated.

[@jordantrainsuk8608]

Nice video can you do Exeter to Barnstaple on a GWR 158?

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Thanks - sure, the next time I’m down that way I can have a look

[@lewis8407]

Great video 📹

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Cheers mate - appreciated

[@土浦乗り鉄]

Nice train video.

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Thanks - much appreciated

[@gazs4731]

Great journey and price. I'm curious as to whether the I terior is of Southwest Trains or Southwest Railway

[@JC-il6ps]

I'm pretty certain that is still the old SWT interior/moquette.

[@danj204]

Hi mate isn’t the class 194 it’s the class 158, other than that lovely review

[@kiwitrains]

Is there a lot of single track working 👍👍🇦🇺

[@petermembrey7075]

No single track working from Waterloo to Exeter St David, however there is from Exeter to Barnstaple, it's a branch line known locally as the Tarka line been on it many times 🙂

[@garthhentley8870]

@@petermembrey7075 There is extensive single-track operation west of Salisbury.

[@JC-il6ps]

Yeah screw GWR, if I ever need to do this trip I'll definitely use SWR.

[@TheGeordieTravels]

I agree although I’m back on board GWR next week - 😬

[@JC-il6ps]

@@TheGeordieTravels Oh no, good luck with that 😐.

[@transitcaptain]

First

[@TheGeordieTravels]

Quick off the mark mate!