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South West Trains〔(Companies House extract company no 5599788 ) Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited〕 (SWT) is a British train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group operating the South Western franchise. It operates the majority of commuter services from its Central London terminus at London Waterloo to South West London as well as most outer suburban/regional services in Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset. It also provides regional services in Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight. The area of operation, essentially the former South Western division of Network SouthEast, is also roughly that of the pre-1923 London and South Western Railway (excluding everything west of Exeter). The Stagecoach Group took over the franchise on the privatisation of British Rail in 1996 and retained it in 2004 and again in 2007 making it, along with Chiltern Railways and Great Western Railway, the longest-running franchise. The bulk of its train services pass through the busiest section of the UK's domestic rail network at . ==History== In 1995 the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising awarded the South West Trains franchise to Stagecoach.〔(Companies House extract company no 2938995 ). South Western Trains Limited.〕 Operations started on 4 February 1996. South West Trains' first train, the 05:10 Twickenham to London Waterloo, was the first privatised scheduled train to operate for 48 years. In April 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded Stagecoach a new franchise after it beat bids from First/NedRailways and Sea Containers. The 2001 franchises awarded were (as promulgated) to run for twenty years but in 2002 the Strategic Rail Authority reduced the duration of franchises and South West Trains was awarded a three-year franchise starting on 1 February 2004.〔''Rail'' (Peterborough). 13 November 2002, page 4.〕 In December 2005 the Department for Transport announced that Arriva, First, MTR/Sea Containers, National Express and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to tender for the new South Western franchise, which combined the South West Trains and Island Line Trains franchises, National Express later pulling out.〔(South Western stakeholder briefing ). Department for Transport. 4 April 2006.〕 In September 2006 the Department for Transport awarded the franchise to Stagecoach, the new franchise starting on 4 February 2007 for a period of ten years. In March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced DfT were in talks with Stagecoach to extend the franchise until 27 April 2019.〔("Railway plan puts new focus on passengers" ). Secretary of State for Transport statement 26 March 2013.〕 However, in July 2015 Stagecoach confirmed talks had failed and the franchise will end in February 2017 as originally scheduled.〔http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/stagecoach/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=273&newsid=537813〕 Directly Operated Railways are on standby to take over any franchises where a Direct Award agreement with the incumbent operator could not be reached.〔http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2013-05-14b.155153.h〕 In the early days of its franchise, SWT gained notoriety for severe service cuts owing to driver shortages but it later made significant improvements to the network, including replacing much of the rolling stock, refurbishing stations, making stations accessible to disabled passengers, and improving customer information. During the early 2000s, improvements included the introduction of new rail services and the reopening of station in Hampshire. On 12 December 2004 the company completely recast its timetable, for the first time in the South West region since 1967, in an attempt to bring service provision into line with changing demand and to take into account the different characteristics of modern rolling stock, with the intention that this would improve reliability and punctuality across the network. A smoking ban on all SWT services was introduced from May 2004, partly in response to a fire caused by a cigarette left near a heater under a seat, and also pre-empting the public smoking ban introduced two years later. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South West Trains」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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