THE first of South Western Railway’s Class 458/4 units, of which 13 had been converted and released by late April, are expected to enter service in June, although not on services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth as originally planned.
Instead, they are to be used on inner-suburban duties out of Waterloo to Hounslow and Weybridge, which should, via a cascade, enable Class 455s to be removed from the Reading line as well as allowing further ‘458/5’ sets to be released for conversion to Class 458/4.
As of late April, South Western Railway had 20 five-car Class 458s in service (see table), of which 13 are due to be converted to four-car Class 458/4 sets. The remaining seven, Nos. 458529-532/534-536, do not form part of the conversion programme and will, in due course, go off-lease, along with No. 458533 which has not been in service for over two years, although this set is in the process of being returned to traffic.
Released from Alstom, Widnes on April 15, was No. 458421 (ex 458521). It was hauled to Wembley Yard by GB Railfreight No. 57303, where, after recessing, it continued to Bournemouth the next day. The
