60 more carriages for South West Trains services into Waterloo by 2013
Extra train carriages are to be introduced to some of the country's busiest
rail routes in London and the South East.
Sixty extra carriages will benefit South West Trains services into London's
Waterloo station, allowing around 8,000 extra peak-time passengers into the
terminal every morning.
The former Waterloo International Station is also set to be reopened for
commuter services, the Department of Transport said.
The new carriages will mean trains from Windsor, Weybridge (via Staines),
Portsmouth, Southampton, Eastleigh, Reading, Hounslow and Alton will be
lengthened, and additional services will also run from Reading.
They will be introduced from May 2013, with all new services in place by
July 2014.
Transport Secretary and local MP Justine Greening said: "Passengers travelling into
Waterloo have to suffer some of the busiest trains in the country, with
sardine-can like conditions on many peak-time services.
"These extra carriages will help ease those conditions, while opening an
extra platform will provide space for additional trains to run.
"But our plans do not stop here. We are now embarked on one of the largest
programmes of rail investment since the Victorian era and we expect to
introduce further carriages on Waterloo routes and bring more platforms into
use in the future."
London Assembly Member for Wandworth, Richard Tracey, said: "This is splendid news of better and more comfortable travel for us in Wandsworth. Together with Jane Ellison MP, I have constantly lobbied the Government'sTransport Department, and several months ago Justine Greening went with us as Putney's MP to carry the message. Now she is delivering as Transport Secretary. Well done."
December 24, 2011