South Western Railway's Refurbished 458s Have Entered Service!

[@thetflthree]

Lovely to meet you! Great video, these are certainly overall good trains for SWR (and seeing this in my recommended has inspired me to stop procrastinating the edit)! ~ Daniel

[@universaltrainsstudio8534]

Yep, Michael is much better than me at editing lol

[@stalbanstransport]

I agree

[@TPtyla]

I love the indent on the seat so people who are tall have more legroom that’s really nice

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah there's some nice details on these trains, but the legroom is already so good that I don't think it'll be an issue for tall people anyway!

[@TaylesTheTrainspotter]

Another lovely video by Michael! Can't wait to ride these soon!

[@universaltrainsstudio8534]

Nice one Michael! It was extremely epic to see you once again! See you again whenever the 158 and 159 replacement comes 😅

[@ashleyjiscool]

That will be in 2192.

[@universaltrainsstudio8534]

@@ashleyjiscool I've got no clue when that'll happen lol! 😂😆

[@Listenerandlearner870]

You might like to try 701s to Shepperton and Windsor.

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah I'd like to go on the 701s at some point as I've not had a chance yet!

[@Sim0nTrains]

I love how they kept their introduction quiet but a very interesting video and really does look a wonderful refurbishment.. apart from the toilet you would had thought they do the toilet as well.

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah there's didn't need to reinvent the wheel in the toilet, just a simple lick of paint would make an enormous difference!

[@doom2469]

@@MikeWillSeelick 😏

[@HueyRailfanning]

I was in London that day but didn't know that this was going on... rip I think that these might be the best trains on SWR now. They were already very good but this made them even better; the 450s just don't come close anymore!

[@Andrewjg_89]

I must say that the Class 458/4s are very nice. Will these be used on Reading, Windsor & Eton Riverside and possibly use them on the Alton line.

[@MikeWillSee]

Not sure at this stage but I wouldn't rule it out!

[@gapthemind--mindthegap8524]

They look lovely and sound lovely but their starting acceleration js slow as shit now. Not sure if drivers are holding back or not.

[@MikeWillSee]

Hmm I hadn't picked up on that. I wonder if it's because they've had to re-gear them for the higher top speeds or something like that?

[@___Wrench___]

I guess I'm lucky to see the old version being pulled past Crewe.

[@MikeWillSee]

Probably on its way to be refurbished

[@___Wrench___]

@@MikeWillSee Thank you so much for replying!

[@dominicbarden4436]

Apparently the plan to use these on the Portsmouth Direct Line was abandoned earlier this year? Or was it just put on hold?

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah I remember hearing about that as well. I can only assume that it's still the long-term plan for these units, otherwise why bother introducing them into service?!

[@dominicbarden4436]

@@MikeWillSee What would happen to the 444 and 450 Desiros if or when these come into service?

[@MikeWillSee]

@@dominicbarden4436 I think the plan is (or was?) to redeploy them elsewhere on the SWR network, at least for the 450s One of SWR's promises upon obtaining the franchise was to move the 450s off the Portsmouth Direct line since the 3+2 seating doesn't really lend itself to the long distances, and as such was unpopular with passengers. I think it's less of an issue with the 444s as they have 2+2 seating which is better for longer journeys such as the lines to Portsmouth, Southampton, Weymouth

[@dominicbarden4436]

@@MikeWillSee Ah ok. I have a soft spot for the Desiros as I grew up with them in a way: when my family would visit my grandma down in Liss (I'm from the Midlands) we'd often take the train into Pompey. I preferred the 444s over the 450s though, even though I think we ended up using the 450s more (I think the 444s tended to be used more on Weymouth services or heading to Pompey via Basingstoke and Southampton rather than Guildford?)! And I've always loved the sounds the traction motors make when the trains are arriving and departing. It'd be a shame to see them leave the Direct Line serivices.

[@domtweed7323]

We need level boarding.

[@MikeWillSee]

Agreed

[@TripleDoubleA]

What services do these trains run on and what days are they in service?

[@MikeWillSee]

According to a recent IanVisits article, they're scheduled to run on the following services (all via Brentford): 05:31 Hounslow to London Waterloo 06:22 London Waterloo to Weybridge 08:02 Weybridge to London Waterloo 15:22 London Waterloo to Weybridge 17:03 Weybridge to London Waterloo 18:37 London Waterloo to Twickenham This also makes sense of my experience, as in this video I got the 15:22 and 17:03 Nonetheless if you want a bit more certainty, you can confirm with people on the RailUK Forums, or check the aforementioned services on RealTimeTrains, where if you find them and then go into 'detailed' mode and then press 'show train information' at the top, it will sometimes display the unit number, or if not then it should display the train's top speed, which for this unit is 100mph

[@TripleDoubleA]

@@MikeWillSee ok

[@AFCManUk]

Are South Western going to be getting rid of the old mainly red (with blue and yellow doors) train colours too?

[@MikeWillSee]

Yep, that whole fleet of trains (455s and 707s) are set to be replaced by the 701s, which feature the new colour scheme

[@AFCManUk]

@@MikeWillSee Sweet!

[@TPtyla]

I actually love the modern dark livery it’s my favourite livery ever

[@AFCManUk]

@@TPtyla I agree. Much nicer and certainly cleaner looking than the red yellow and blue.

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

You wait at Virginia Water for the Reading services to get in front.

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah but not for half an hour! 😅 There was definitely some sort of police incident which ended up delaying our train

[@melodydunn1]

The class 701s are already in service

[@MikeWillSee]

Correct, they entered service about 6 months ago

[@partyentertains4092]

Only on limited or selected routes. Full passenger service from the Autumn, depending on the current driver training, hopefully.

[@melbournetrainspotting9740]

You a earned subcriber

[@MikeWillSee]

Thank you!

[@kingfinley-cs1wc]

Ep: 23 Highbury and Islington (overground) ? Just a suggestion

[@MikeWillSee]

I think you meant to comment this on Geoff Marshall's newest video, not mine!

[@rpmillam]

Pompey direct on slow trains?😅

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah it'll definitely take a bit of getting used to, but they've been refurbished to such an extent they should actually be an upgrade when compared to the current stock!

[@Listenerandlearner870]

They are as fast as 450s and 444s.

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

Windsor Lines are limited to 70mph.

[@MikeWillSee]

Yeah I think we might have got up to 70 at one point, but mostly we stuck around the 50 - 60 mark

[@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire]

@@MikeWillSee I think I have worked out you went via Hounslow like normal rather than the quicker route via Richmond and that is because of the Automatic Route Setting which is found in Basingstoke ROC.

[@MikeWillSee]

@@A-Trainspotter-From-Berkshire ah yeah that may well explain it!

[@Demun1649]

"This disabled seating area is so spacious. It's fantastic. Lots of space for wheelchairs, OR BIKES!" So what is it? Is that area a REAL disabled seating area? Or is the space that a guard's van would have for bikes? If it had guards/parcels area. As a disabled person who, because of my specialist scooter, is barred from ALL buses and trains, in Britain, (10 cms too long, because it is fitted with anti-tip wheels at the rear), you seem very vague on exactly what that "Disabled Seating Area" is for. Bikes can go and take up space, so a mobility scooter, or wheelchair, won't get the space? Mixed messages there, which further alienate the disabled passengers.

[@MikeWillSee]

Unfortunately it seems to be the case that on most commuter trains, it is a shared-use space which can be used by both bikes or wheelchairs depending on requirements, and whilst I'm absolutely supportive of having those spaces being properly separated out, I was purely commenting on how the provision here seems to be much larger than on other equivalent trains!

[@jamesryeland1635]

Do you have Instagram Michael

[@MikeWillSee]

I do but it's a private account I use to communicate with my friends. Some day I'll make a public account for this kind of thing though!