Southwest Trains franchise goes to China's MTR

After over 20 years of operating the South West Trains franchise, Stagecoach will be replaced from August of this year.

From then, the trains will be run by a partnership formed of First Group (a company who has long been involved with running various British rail franchises) and MTR, the operator of Hong Kong's Metro.

A locomotive with MTR logo. [Photo: dlxww.com]

Although South West Trains has recently reported increasing levels of customer satisfaction, a quick glance at their social media feeds reveals that the company is still the source of frustration to commuters on a regular basis.

Reacting to the news, South West Trains watch, a passenger interest group, said:

"Arrogant, complacent Stagecoach has lost the South West franchise. 

The last 20 years have been a missed opportunity for those of us who rely on this essential part of the rail network.

We now need First and MTR to deliver on their promises and give us a service that we can finally be proud of."

Those promises made by First and MTR include new timetables, which could increase the number of peak seats into and out of London by as much as 20 percent.

The companies will also make a payment of over £2.5 billion to the British government over the seven years of the deal.