A Sights & Sounds Special The South Western Juniper Class 458/5

A Sights & Sounds Special
The South Western Juniper Class 458/5
In this sights and sounds special we look at the Class 458/5 fleet, operated by South Western Railway to and from London Waterloo.
The Class 458 Fleet of trains were built between 1998 and 2002 for South West Trains, they are part of the Juniper family of trains built by Alstom, they share much of there design with the Coradia 1000 Diesel trains from the same time. In total thirty 4-car sets were built known as the Class 458/0s, these having an unusual design of cab end gangways which could be retracted to make the units more aerodynamic. The fleet had many technical issues along with other members of the Juniper family, including faulty traction systems, poor performance, and in several incidents train brake failures.
Between 2013 and 2016, South West Trains ,along with leasing company Porterbrook, decided to radically overhaul and refurbish the Class 458 fleet for suburban operations around the capital. The sets were fitted with 2+2 seating and new grab poles to allow for more standing room, the sets were also extended to 5-cars by using coaches from similar Class 460 sets previously operated by Gatwick Express.
The new upgraded fleet was designated as the Class 458/5s.
A further six sets were built entirely out of ex Class 460 coaches these having a slightly different external appearance to the others, this brings the fleet to a total of 36 units...
The Class 458s performance drastically improved after their refurbishment and in 2017, they received the Golden Spanner Award for the most reliable electric multiple unit fleet in Britain, a title they still have today.
In August 2017, the South West Trains franchise was stripped, with services now being operated by South Western Railway, a company part of First Group.
As part of their franchise commitment, South Western Railway was to replace the Class 458s along with the rest of their suburban fleet with new Class 701 Aventra's. But, after problems facing the company on the mainline towards Portsmouth it was decided to retain 28 Class 458s and refurbish them for long distance travel, this will see these units returned to a 4-car configuration allowing their top speed to be increased as well as the fitting of reupholstered seating, new LED lighting and upgraded toilet facilities. The refreshed units will be delivered to SWR in their corporate blue and silver livery and will be known as the Class 458/4s.
As of August 2023 two sets have been refurbished and delivered to SWR, with the rest to follow.
Filmed: 31st August 2023
Journey: Strawberry Hill - London Waterloo
Railway World
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[@user-iw1ej1ix1r]

Nice video. I like the colour scheme of South West trains. Probably the best of all the train operators

[@RailwayWorld_2023]

apologies for the slightly incorrect information at 27:36, once refurbished the Class 458's will be capable of 100mph not 110 as the video says. I was following information that had been speculated and made a typo when making this video. looking forward to travelling on the refurbished units soon and I am planning to do a video on these hopefully when they enter service :)