Alstom completes £25 million refurbishment of South Western Railway’s Class 458 fleet

Twenty-eight four-car units have been refurbished at the Alstom Transport Technology Centre in Widnes, taking two weeks to complete each set. Each unit has 234 seats in a two-by-two formation – all with seat back tables and charging points – as well as space for two wheelchair users. All carriages also have two tables fitted with wireless charging points, while their exteriors carry the updated SWR livery.

Work by Alstom at its train modernisation facility in Widnes has also seen the reconfiguration of the vehicles to enable faster acceleration and new carpets laid throughout. Meanwhile, additional work at Alstom’s historic Crewe Works has seen the Class 458’s powered wheelsets overhauled. This has enabled the trains to operate at a top speed of 100mph – up from 75mph.

“This refurbishment demonstrates Alstom’s commitment to delivering smarter, more sustainable and passenger-focused mobility solutions. The work completed at Widnes and Crewe not only enhances the passenger experience on the Class 458 fleet, but also showcases the value of British engineering and our investment in local expertise,” said Peter Broadley, Services Managing Director UK and Ireland at Alstom.

He added: “We are proud to have supported South Western Railway and Porterbrook in this significant programme, ensuring that these trains are ready to provide better journeys for customers across London and the South East of England.”

The final unit – 458414 – departed Widnes after an event at the facility on Thursday 12 December to mark the successful completion of the project. The milestone also inspired Widnes Industrial Engineer, Hannah Temple, who created a drawing of the refurbishment that was revealed at the celebration event. The EMU will enter service in the spring, operating eight-car services across SWR’s suburban network.

“We’re excited to welcome our newly refurbished Class 458 fleet back to the network. These upgraded trains provide a significantly enhanced customer experience, with improved seating and tables, new charging points, as well as space for two wheelchair users,” said Neil Drury, Engineering and Infrastructure Director at South Western Railway.

He added: “We are grateful to Alstom and Porterbrook for partnering with us on this successful project, and to SWR colleagues for their hard work getting the trains back into service, which will strengthen capacity on our busy suburban network.”

The 28, four-car Class 458 trains will be designated as Class 458/4. The eight remaining five-car units will be designated as Class 458/5.

“Our Class 458s have proudly served South Western Railway’s routes for the last 25 years. We know that the needs of passengers evolve over time, so it’s important that our trains do the same, and that’s why we continually invest in our fleets to ensure they continue to meet expectations,” said Andy Bagguley, Fleet Services Director at Porterbrook.

“Thank you to our partners at SWR and Alstom, and to all the companies who supported the successful delivery of this complex project.”

Opened in 2017, Alstom's Widnes facility is the UK’s largest and most sophisticated centre for train modernisation, while its Crewe site is home to Alstom’s UK Centre of Excellence for Bogie and Traction Motor Overhaul. The Crewe facility has overhauled over 20,000 bogies – which house the train’s wheelsets – during the past ten years for the UK rail market. In the future, all the bogies for the 225mph trains for High Speed Two (HS2) will be assembled and maintained in Crewe by Alstom.

£25 million investment

The work on the Class 458 trains has supported almost 70 roles at Widnes and Crewe, while UK suppliers have also benefitted from more than 80% of the £25 million investment.

The trains were originally intended for use on the route between London Waterloo and Portsmouth Harbour via Guildford. However, following the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes in customer travel patterns, the fleet will operate services on SWR’s suburban network, as the company works towards the full introduction of its fleet of 90 new Class 701 Aventra trains – built by Alstom in Derby and branded Arterio by the customer.

Alstom-built trains

The Class 458 Juniper (5-JUP) EMUs were originally built by Alstom at Washwood Heath in Birmingham between 1998 and 2002 for South West Trains.

The first refurbished Class 458 units – 458415, 458420 and 458422 – entered service in June, in the same week that Avanti West Coast’s final Class 390 Pendolino also left Widnes following completion of the UK’s biggest fleet upgrade.

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