HOW THE SOUTH WEST TRAINS STORY UNFOLDED…
The new South West Trains franchise ran the first passenger train in Britain following rail privatisation, the 05.10 Twickenham to London Waterloo on Sunday 4 February 1996.
Awarded to Stagecoach Group for a seven year term, South West Trains was the biggest of all the privatised train companies. A separate Isle of Wight franchise – the smallest of all - was also awarded to Stagecoach.
