06 November 2025, 14:49
Farewell, 455s! South Western Railway to stage ‘farewell tour’ for iconic red commuter trains
- South Western Railway will stage a farewell tour for its Class 455 commuter trains, which have served South West London, Berkshire and Surrey for the last 42 years
- The tour will take in familiar places and a few special locations on South Western Railway’s network
- Tickets go on sale this Monday, 10 November, with profits going to three charities: The Alex Wardle Foundation, Macmillan and The Railway Children
- The fleet is being replaced by South Western Railway’s new Arterio trains, with each 10-car train carrying over 50% more customers than the Class 455s
SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is staging a farewell tour for its Class 455 trains on Sunday 21 December.
SWR’s fleet of red trains, which transport customers from the likes of Guildford, Twickenham and Windsor to London Waterloo, will be retired by the end of the year. SWR’s new fleet of Arterio trains is being rolled out and will soon operate all its suburban network services.
In recognition of their role in the lives of millions of customers, their popularity with rail enthusiasts, and to mark the end of an era on the British railway network, SWR and the Branch Line Society will run a special charter service.
Photo by Jeremy Chapter
The ‘Class 455 Farewell’ tour will include some familiar places on the suburban network, such as Epsom and Kingston, along with a few special routes and locations, such as the District Line’s branch between East Putney and Wimbledon, plus Haslemere on the Portsmouth Direct Line*.
Just 400 tickets will go on sale, at a cost of £45.50 each, from the Branch Line Society’s website at 11am on Monday 10 November. The profits will go to three charities, The Alex Wardle Foundation, Macmillan, and The Railway Children.
Neil Drury, South Western Railway’s Engineering and Infrastructure Director, said:
“While customers are getting used to the many benefits of our new fleet of Arterio trains, we know there are a lot of enthusiasts out there who will be sad to see our classic red trains go.
“The farewell tour will be a fitting tribute to these trains, which have been a staple of our railway and worked incredibly hard for more than four decades. Best of all, the proceeds will go to three specially selected charities.
“We look forward to welcoming ticket holders on board on Sunday 21 December.”
A familiar sight for millions of commuters in South West London, Berkshire and Surrey, 70 Class 455 trains were built for what is now the SWR network by British Rail Engineering Limited, between 1982 and 1985. They entered service on SWR’s suburban routes on Monday 28 March 1983.
Photo by South Western Railway
90 Arterio trains will replace the Class 455 fleet and are currently operating more than 300 services per day, with more joining in the coming weeks and months to transform journeys on SWR’s suburban network.
The brand new, 10-car trains will serve 98 stations in and around South West London, and each will carry over 50% more customers than the Class 455s, significantly increasing capacity for customers.
The £1 billion fleet will also improve customer comfort, providing modern features including Wi-Fi, charging points at every seat, real time information, accessible toilets and air conditioning.
Contact Information
South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex Press Office
press@swrailway.com
Notes to editors
*The final route is subject to change and will be confirmed shortly before the date of the tour. More information will be available on the Branch Line Society’s website.
The Branch Line Society is a UK-based voluntary association for railway enthusiasts. It is a nationally spread organisation with a membership of over 2,600 (including quite a few resident overseas). It was established in 1955 and is widely recognised as Britain's leading amateur group for the study of railway infrastructure and history of networks.
The Alex Wardle Foundation Fund was set up in memory of Alex Wardle, who passed away in March 2016 from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS). The foundation was headed by Alex’s father and SWR colleague, Steve Wardle, who passed away in September.
Macmillan Cancer Support has been chosen in honour of SWR colleague James Mckinnon, who passed away in January.
The Railway Children is one of SWR’s partner charities, which supports vulnerable children alone and at risk on the streets and at transport hubs.
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South Western brings track and train together to connect people and communities across the South and South West of England. We run 1,600 services every day across 200 stations and 1,300 miles of railway, connecting more than half a million commuters, students, business and leisure travellers to the people and places that matter to them.
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DFTO works with train operators and Network Rail to lay the foundations for Great British Railways (GBR) - working together to deliver a better railway for everyone in Britain. Ahead of the establishment of GBR in 2027, DFTO is responsible for bringing privately operated passenger services into public ownership, ensuring stability, accountability and continuity for customers and taxpayers. The group’s current train operating companies are: c2c, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, GTR, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and WM Trains. DFTO now runs 12,000 rail services every day and delivers over one billion customer journeys across its networks each year.
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