Refurbishment of SWR’s Class 458 fleet complete

On 12 December 2024, Alstom has completed a 25 million GBP upgrade of the Class 458 fleet for South Western Railway (SWR). The refurbishment has been financed by Porterbrook, which owns the Class 458s. 

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 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 EMUs – built by Alstom in Derby and branded Arterio by the customer.

28 four-car EMUs have been refurbished at the Alstom Transport Technology Centre in Widnes, taking two weeks to complete each unit, and will be designated Class 458/4. Each train 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. The eight remaining five-car units will be designated as Class 458/5.

Work by Alstom at its train modernisation facility in Widnes has also seen the reconfiguration of the EMUs 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 100 mph (161 km/h) - up from 75 mph (120 km/h).

The first refurbished units – 458 415, 420 and 422 – 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. The final unit – 458 414 – departed Widnes after an event at the facility on Thursday 12 December 2024 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.

“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.

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 during the past ten years for the UK rail market. In the future, all the bogies for the 225 mph (362 km/h) trains for High Speed Two (HS2) will be assembled and maintained in Crewe by Alstom. The work on the Class 458s has supported almost 70 roles at Widnes and Crewe, while UK suppliers have also benefitted from more than 80 % of the 25 million GBP investment.