1.
South Western main line
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The South Western Main Line is a major British railway between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many areas including suburbs of London such as around Hampton Court Palace. It runs through Greater London, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset and it briefly runs alongside the Windsor and Reading Lines which terminate also at London Waterloo. Together with these, it forms the core of the built by the London. Network Rail refers to it as the South West Mainline, much of the line is relatively high-speed, with large stretches cleared for up to 100 mph running. Tourist special services to a lesser frequency use the line such as the Cathedrals Express and Alton is a connection to a shorter heritage service. In 1831, the Southampton, London & Branch Railway and Docks Company was formed, the company planned to build a railway line to Southampton, but were also interested in building a line from halfway down their route towards Bristol via Newbury and Devizes. In that year the Basingstoke Canal company suggested instead that a link be built between their canal, built 1794, and the Itchen Navigation, the suggestion was rejected by those working on the railway plans and the canal company agreed not to oppose the railway. The chosen route to Southampton was not direct as it adopted a compromise axis about one third of the way down for a westward Bristol line and this axis terminates shortly after the conurbation on the line of Basingstoke, then an agrarian market town. The route therefore missed the towns of Guildford, Farnham and Alton which would have boosted early revenue, the town of Winchester north of Southampton was included in the built and in the unbuilt proposal, seeing its station open in 1839. The Great Western Railway secured its patrons for a far more direct route to Bristol, the GWR received Parliamentary authority and shortly afterwards the Southampton railway. The SL&BRDC held to its route including Basingstoke, though changed its name to the London and Southampton Railway. The first section to be opened was from Nine Elms, the LSWRs first London terminus, in Battersea, to Woking on 21 May 1838. This last section was the most difficult on the route with an initial climb necessitating earthworks to Litchfield Tunnel. The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was also formed and built a line from 1845 to 1847 from Southampton to Dorchester and it avoided Bournemouth, then barely a village, and ran via Wimborne Minster and Ringwood before reaching Dorchester. It took a route, which followed the easiest-to-construct links rather than linking settlements in a straight line. Initially, Poole was served by a branch from Hamworthy to a station on the side of Holes Bay. The Ringwood line was nicknamed as Castlemans Corkscrew after Charles Castleman, the line was originally planned to continue towards Exeter, but this never came into effect
2.
Bournemouth railway station
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Bournemouth railway station is the main railway station serving the beach-side town of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It was known as Bournemouth East and then Bournemouth Central and it has long been treated as an obligatory stop on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. A previous incarnation of Bournemouth East station was on another site, ticket barriers were installed in 2008 and British Transport Police have a Bournemouth office at the station which acts as a regional hub. The station was over 1–km from the centre on the insistence of town authorities of the time. It was renamed Bournemouth Central on 1 May 1899 and became Bournemouth on 10 July 1967 following the closure of Bournemouth West, by 1967 third rail electrification had reached Bournemouth and continued beyond to Branksome and Bournemouth Depot but no further. From the end of steam most trains were formed of 4REP EMUs coupled up with one or more unpowered 4TC units, the 4TC units would be uncoupled at Bournemouth and attached to a Class 33/1 diesel locomotive for the onward journey to Weymouth. This continued until the electrification of the line from Branksome to Weymouth, the station roof was severely damaged by the Great Storm of 1987 that hit the South of England. It was extensively refurbished in 2000 by Railtrack after many years of disrepair, ticket barriers were installed in 2008. On 2 September 1961, a train was derailed by trap points at the end of the down platform, the station has four platforms, Platform 1 – east facing bay platform capable of accommodating trains of up to four 20-metre coaches. As of 2012 there are no scheduled services from this platform, Platform 2 – for through services to the east towards Southampton & London. Platforms 3 and 4 – for terminating services from London and through services to Weymouth via Poole, Platform 4 is rarely used by trains in passenger service. Platforms 3 and 4 are continuous, and both can accommodate full-length trains and this means Bournemouth has one of the longest platforms in the country. Other stations with this arrangement include Gloucester, Cambridge and Edinburgh Waverley, a small locomotive depot was opened at Bournemouth East in 1870, but closed in 1883. This was replaced by a shed, adjacent to Bournemouth Central station. This in turn was supplemented by another shed nearby in 1888, in 1921, the 1883 shed was closed and the 1888 one was extended to increase capacity, and between 1936 and 1938 this was rebuilt and enlarged. The new shed included a 65 ft turntable and a 50 LT hoist, however the facilities remained cramped and awkwardly sited, there were proposals to move the depot to Branksome which were never implemented. This site therefore remained in use until June 1967 when the site was cleared, in addition, CrossCountry operate services from Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly via Birmingham New Street. There is one CrossCountry service Monday to Saturday only from Nottingham, all CrossCountry services at Bournemouth use Voyager DEMUS
3.
Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry
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Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry provide a link between the English port city of Southampton and the Hampshire village of Hythe on the west side of Southampton Water. It is used both by commuters and tourists, and forms an important link in the Solent Way and E9 European coastal paths, the pier, railway and ferry service are currently operated by White Horse Ferries Ltd of Swindon. In October 2016 the White Horse Ferries staff were given redundancy letters which suggests an uncertain future from the pier, the railway is the oldest continuously operating public pier train in the world. Hythe Pier stretches 700 yards from the centre of Hythe to the water channel of Southampton Water. It is approximately 16 feet wide, and carries a pedestrian walkway and cycleway on its northern side, during normal high tides the pier is 4 feet above the surface of the water. A company was formed to construct a pier in 1870 and in 1871 it obtained an Act of Parliament in order to do so and this effort then stalled and a pier was not constructed. A second company called the Hythe Pier & Hythe & Southampton Ferry company was formed in late 1874, a new act passed parliament in 1875 but legal disagreements with the Southampton Harbour and Pier Board delayed royal assent until 1878. Construction started in 1879 and the pier opened in 1881, originally there was a tollhouse at the landward end of the pier, and this was replaced by the present ticket office in the first decade of the 20th century. Large scale maintenance was carried out on the pier in 1896 at a cost of £1,500, the 1878 Act of Parliament made provision for the construction of a tramway along the pier, although one was not originally laid. The trucks that carried luggage along the pier were found to be damaging the pier decking, the vehicles were hand-propelled, and the track was laid flush with the pier decking. In 1922 the railway was reconstructed and electrified, attaining its current form, the track is laid to 2 ft narrow gauge and is electrified at 250 V DC by a third rail on the seaward side of the track. The line consists of a track with no passing loops. One of the sidings enters the lines covered workshop, stations, equipped with low wooden platforms, exist at both ends of the line. The pier head station has a roof, whilst the landward station has a ticket office. The line is operated by two four-wheeled electric locomotives built in 1917 by Brush with works numbers 16302 &16307 and they were originally battery powered, being used at the World War I mustard gas factory at Avonmouth. They were transferred to Hythe after the war, where they were converted to power from a third rail and had their batteries removed. They are crudely numbered №1 & №2 on their seaward sides, there was initially a third locomotive but it was taken apart for spares. The line owns four bogie passenger cars, two of which have a cab at their seaward ends
4.
Hampshire
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Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the capital city of England. The larger South Hampshire metropolitan area has a population of 1,547,000, Hampshire is notable for housing the birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force. It is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, the southern boundary is the coastline of the English Channel and the Solent, facing the Isle of Wight. At its greatest size in 1890, Hampshire was the fifth largest county in England and it now has an overall area of 3,700 square kilometres, and measures about 86 kilometres east–west and 76 kilometres north–south. Hampshires tourist attractions include many seaside resorts and two parks, the New Forest and the South Downs. Hampshire has a maritime history and two of Europes largest ports, Portsmouth and Southampton, lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of writers Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, Hampshire takes its name from the settlement that is now the city of Southampton. Southampton was known in Old English as Hamtun, roughly meaning village-town, the old name was recorded in the Domesday book as Hantescire, and it is from this spelling that the modern abbreviation Hants derives. From 1889 until 1959, the county was named the County of Southampton and has also been known as Southamptonshire. The region is believed to have continuously occupied since the end of the last Ice Age about 12,000 BCE. At this time Britain was still attached to the European continent and was covered with deciduous woodland. The first inhabitants came overland from Europe, these were anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, notable sites from this period include Bouldnor Cliff. Agriculture had arrived in southern Britain by 4000 BCE, and with it a neolithic culture, some deforestation took place at that time, although it was during the Bronze Age, beginning in 2200 BCE, that this became more widespread and systematic. Hampshire has few monuments to show from early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 BCE and 2200 BCE. It is maintained that by this period the people of Britain predominantly spoke a Celtic language, hillforts largely declined in importance in the second half of the second century BCE, with many being abandoned. Julius Caesar invaded southeastern England briefly in 55 and again in 54 BCE, notable sites from this period include Hengistbury Head, which was a major port. There is a Museum of the Iron Age in Andover, the Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE, and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly
5.
Southampton
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Southampton, on the south coast of England, is the largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire. It is 75 miles south-west of London and 19 miles north-west of Portsmouth, Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest. It lies at the northernmost point of Southampton Water at the confluence of the Rivers Test and Itchen, the city, which is a unitary authority, has an estimated population of 253,651. The citys name is abbreviated in writing to Soton or Soton. Significant employers in the city include the University of Southampton, Southampton Solent University, Southampton Airport, Ordnance Survey, BBC South, Southampton has a large shopping centre and retail park, Westquay. In 2014, the city approved a follow-up from the Westquay park, WestQuay Watermark. This built-up area is part of the area known as South Hampshire. With a population of over 1.5 million this makes the one of the United Kingdoms most populous metropolitan areas. Archaeological finds suggest that the area has been inhabited since the stone age, following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD43 and the conquering of the local Britons in 70 AD the fortress settlement of Clausentum was established. It was an important trading port and defensive outpost of Winchester, Clausentum was defended by a wall and two ditches and is thought to have contained a bath house. Clausentum was not abandoned until around 410, the Anglo-Saxons formed a new, larger, settlement across the Itchen centred on what is now the St Marys area of the city. The settlement was known as Hamwic, which evolved into Hamtun, archaeological excavations of this site have uncovered one of the best collections of Saxon artefacts in Europe. It is from this town that the county of Hampshire gets its name, viking raids from 840 onwards contributed to the decline of Hamwic in the 9th century, and by the 10th century a fortified settlement, which became medieval Southampton, had been established. Following the Norman Conquest in 1066, Southampton became the port of transit between the then capital of England, Winchester, and Normandy. By the 13th century Southampton had become a port, particularly involved in the import of French wine in exchange for English cloth. The Franciscan friary in Southampton was founded circa 1233, the friars constructed a water supply system in 1290, which carried water from Conduit Head some 1.7 kilometres to the site of the friary inside the town walls. Further remains can be observed at Conduit House on Commercial Road, the friars granted use of the water to the town in 1310. The town was sacked in 1338 by French, Genoese and Monegasque ships, on visiting Southampton in 1339, Edward III ordered that walls be built to close the town
6.
Southern Railway (UK)
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The Southern Railway, sometimes shortened to Southern, was a British railway company established in the 1923 Grouping. It linked London with the Channel ports, South West England, South coast resorts, the construction of what was to become the Southern Railway began in 1838 with the opening of the London and Southampton Railway, which was renamed the London & South Western Railway. The railway was noted for its use of public relations. At 2,186 miles, the Southern Railway was the smallest of the Big Four railway companies and, unlike the others and it created what was at that time the worlds largest electrified main line railway system and the first electrified InterCity route. The Southern Railway operated a number of named trains, including the Brighton Belle, the Bournemouth Belle, the Golden Arrow. The West Country services were dominated by summer holiday traffic and included named trains such as the Atlantic Coast Express. The companys best-known livery was highly distinctive, locomotives and carriages were painted in a bright Malachite green above plain black frames, with bold, the Southern Railway was nationalised in 1948, becoming the Southern Region of British Railways. These companies were amalgamated, together several small independently operated lines and non-working companies, to form the Southern Railway in 1923. The first main line railway in southern England was the London and Southampton Railway and it was quickly followed by the London and Brighton Railway, and the South Eastern Railway in February 1844. The LSWR branched out to destinations including Portsmouth, Salisbury and later Exeter and it grew to be the largest of the four constituent companies. The LBSCR was a smaller railway than its LSWR neighbour, serving the port of Newhaven and several holiday resorts on the south coast. It had been almost bankrupt in 1867, but during the last twenty-five years of its existence it had been well-managed and it had begun to electrify routes around London from 1909 to compete with the new electric trams that were taking away some of its traffic. Finally, the SECR had been created after years of wasteful, both companies had been unpopular with the travelling public and operated poorly maintained vehicles and infrastructure. Nevertheless, real progress had made in rectifying this during the period 1899–1922. The formation of the Southern Railway was rooted in the outbreak of the First World War, many members of staff joined the armed forces and it was not possible to build and maintain equipment at peacetime levels. The resultant amalgamation of the four south coast railways to form the Southern Railway meant that several duplicate routes, the LSWR had most influence on the new company, although genuine attempts were made to integrate the services and staff after 1923. In addition to its operations, the Southern Railway inherited several important port and harbour facilities along the south coast, including Southampton, Newhaven. It also ran services to the harbours at Portsmouth, Dover and these had come into being for handling ocean-going and cross-channel passenger traffic and the size of the railway-owned installations reflected the prosperity that the industry generated
7.
Marchwood
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Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the shore of Southampton Water and directly east of the New Forest. The population of the village in the 2011 census was 6,141, Marchwood has seen human activity since Roman times. The Roman road from the Calshot/Lepe area passed through here on its way to Nursling, Roman coins have been found at Bury Farm. The name Marchwood is most probably from the Old English merecewudu meaning smallage wood and it is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Merceode, when the manor was held by Alwin, whose father Wulfgeat held the manor before 1066. The manor of Marchwood eventually became known as Marchwood Romsey, John de Romsey held the vill of Marchwood in 1316. He was succeeded by Sir Walter Romsey of Rockbourne, who died in 1403–4 holding land in Marchwood, the manor then passed in the same way as the manor of Romsey Horseys, until the death of Thomas Horsey in 1477. John Romsey of Tatchbury died in 1494 holding the manor from John Horsey, as did his son and his son William Romsey sold the manor to Henry White. The manor passed from Robert White to his son William in 1564–5, in 1587 William White sold the manor to Nicholas Venables. William Rickman died in possession of the manor in 1599, leaving his daughter Katherine wife of David Urry his heir. A hundred years later, David Urry, described as of St. James, Westminster, sold the manor to Gilbert Serle of Leghorn, the manor afterwards passed into the Saunders family. One other manor close to Marchwood was called Bury and it occurs in a deed of the 13th century as the manor of Eling called Burylond. In the 16th century it was absorbed into Colbury manor, Marchwood was at one time in the parish of Eling, and is situated in that part of the ancient parish which lies low at the mouth of the River Test, southeast of Eling village. Cracknore, in Marchwood, was the place of the ferry from Southampton long before the Hythe Ferry. There was an important beacon site here at Beacon Hill, receiving and sending messages to both ends of the Isle of Wight, Marchwood became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1843, and a civil parish in 1894. The church was built and endowed by Horatio Francis Kingsford Holloway in 1843, by the beginning of the 20th century, there were Government gunpowder magazines and a Metropolitan Police barracks in Marchwood. Marchwood Military Port was built here during World War II, which played a role in the Normandy landings. The Royal Navy Ordnance Depot was where the famous Mulberry harbours were made, the port continues to service Britains overseas military interests
8.
British Rail Class 205
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The British Rail Class 205 diesel-electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh from 1957–1962. They were replaced by Turbostar units, the fleets lifespan was 47 years. This class of unit was built in four different batches for use on different lines, the Southern Region class 201 to 207 DEMUs are nicknamed Thumpers owing to the noise they made while in motion. The first batch of units, numbered 1101–1118, was built in 1957 as two-car units and they were built for services in Hampshire on the non-electrified routes between Portsmouth Harbour, Salisbury and Andover and between Alton, Winchester and Southampton Terminus. The first units entered service in September 1957, upon the introduction of TOPS they were reclassified as Class 205. Some of these were converted back to 2 car sets. The second batch of 2H units, numbered 1119–1122, was built as 2-car units in 1958 and these units were built for services on the Marshlink Line from Hastings to Ashford, and associated branch lines. These units remained as two-car sets until 1979, and were reclassified as Class 204 upon the introduction of TOPS, in May 1979, following the disbandment of the four Class 206 units, they were strengthened to three cars and redesignated as Class 205s. The third batch of units was built as three-car sets in 1959 and these units were built to supplement the first batch on services in Hampshire. Collectively, the first and third batches are often called Hampshire sets, the final batch of units, numbered 1127–1133, was built in 1962 as three car sets. These units have some differences from the earlier batches, such as a different internal layout. They were built for services from Reading to Salisbury, and other services in Berkshire, the final batch of units is sometimes referred to as Berkshire sets. Maximum tractive effort,12,500 lbf Driving wheel diameter,42 in Coupling code, Standard Buck eye compatible with contemporary Class 20x and 4xx units. They were initially used on services linking Portsmouth and Southampton to Salisbury, journey times were around two-thirds of those required by the steam locomotives which the units replaced. The delivery of the batch of four units saw the class introduced to the Marshlink Line between Ashford and Hastings. These units also ran on the Bexhill West Branch Line and the line to New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea. All of these routes except for the Marshlink Line had been closed by 1967, the units also operated on the Wareham to Swanage route from 1966 until its closure in 1972. In 1973 some services from Portsmouth to Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare were converted to Class 205 operation, with the introduction of yellow warning panels the orange-Vee was replaced by an inverted black triangle, this being extended at this time to all Southern Region 2 & 3-car multiple units
9.
Esso
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Esso /ˈɛsoʊ/ is a trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. The name is a version of the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil. In 1972 it was replaced in the U. S. by the Exxon brand after it bought Humble Oil. In most of the world, the Esso brand and the Mobil brand are the brand names of ExxonMobil. In 1911, Standard Oil was broken up into 34 companies, Standard Oil Company had the rights in that state, plus in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. By 1941, it had acquired the rights in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Arkansas, Tennessee. In those states, it marketed its products under the brand Esso, the phonetic pronunciation of the letters S and O. It also used the Esso brand in New York and the six New England states, where the Standard Oil Company of New York had the rights, but did not object to the New Jersey companys use of the trademark. However, in the states, the other Standard Oil companies objected and, via a 1937 U. S. federal court injunction. In most states the company used the trademark Enco, and in a few Humble, the other Standard companies likewise were Standard or some variant on that in their home states, and another brand name in other states. Esso ranked 31st among United States corporations in the value of World War II production contracts, during the years of racial segregation in the United States, certain Esso franchises gave out The Negro Motorist Green Book, An International Travel Guide. In 1973, Standard Oil of New Jersey renamed itself as the Exxon Corporation and it retained the Esso brand in Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands until 2008, when it sold its stations there to Total S. A. The Enco brand name was used on locations in the Midwest until 1977 when they were sold to Cheker Oil Co, Exxon continues to have a presence in southern Ohio today, though Mobil is the companys primary brand in the Midwest. In 2016, ExxonMobil successfully asked a U. S. federal court to lift the 1930s trademark injunction that banned it from using the Esso brand in certain states. By this time, as a result of mergers and rebranding. ExxonMobil cited trademark surveys in which there was no possible confusion with the Esso name as it was more than seven decades before. BP also had no objection to lift the ban, in 1888, the Anglo American Oil company opened its head office in London, which eventually became a part of Esso. In August 1998, Tesco announced a partnership with Esso, opening chains of Tesco Express stores located within forecourts, in February 2000, the two companies were opening one new store a month, creating 4,000 jobs
10.
Eastleigh railway station
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Eastleigh railway station serves the town of Eastleigh in the county of Hampshire in England. It is located on the South Western Main Line and is the station for two other routes, the Eastleigh-Fareham Line and the Eastleigh-Romsey Line. South of the station are Eastleigh Railway Works and Eastleigh Depot, the station was built by the LSWR and was called Bishopstoke when it was opened in 1839. The station-house was designed by Sir William Tite and it was renamed Bishopstoke Junction in 1852, Eastleigh and Bishopstoke in 1889, and finally Eastleigh Station in 1923. The station has been a busy and important junction throughout its life, having gained a second line to Salisbury via Romsey in 1847. The main Waterloo to Bournemouth line was electrified in 1967, the Portsmouth line remained diesel worked until 1990, but was then added to the electrified network. Passenger services over the line to Romsey restarted in 2003 - this line remains the only diesel-worked route of those in the area. In 2015 the forecourt of the station received major improvements at a cost of £500,000 The station and they operate services on three different lines, one is to Portsmouth Harbour via Hedge End, one is on the South West Main Line to Poole via Bournemouth. Both of these start from London Waterloo. The third route is on the Salisbury to Romsey Figure 6 stopping line, on Saturdays, there are seven Southern departures to Southampton Central as well as the daily Brighton service. These run approximately every two hours
11.
South West Trains
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South West Trains is a British train operating company owned by Stagecoach, which operates the South Western franchise. It also provides services in Devon, Somerset, Berkshire. The area of operation is the former South Western division of Network SouthEast, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, SWT was taken over by Stagecoach. In 2004 the franchise was retained by Stagecoach when re-tendered, and in 2007 merged with the Island Line Trains company to form the South Western franchise, when next tendered, the franchise was awarded to South Western Railway who will take over on 20 August 2017. In 1995 the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising awarded the South West Trains franchise to Stagecoach, operations commenced on 4 February 1996 with South West Trains first train, the 05,10 Twickenham to London Waterloo, the first privatised scheduled train to operate for 48 years. In April 2001 the Strategic Rail Authority awarded Stagecoach a new franchise after it beat bids from FirstGroup/NedRailways, in September 2006 the DfT awarded the franchise to Stagecoach, the new franchise starting on 4 February 2007 for a period of ten years. During the early 2000s, improvements included the introduction of new rail services, in March 2013 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the DfT were in talks with Stagecoach to extend the franchise until April 2019. However, in July 2015 Stagecoach confirmed talks had failed and the franchise would be relet, Stagecoach and a FirstGroup/MTR Corporation joint venture were shortlisted on 4 February 2016 to bid for the new franchise. And on 27 March 2017 the franchise was awarded to South Western Railway. to take over the franchise from 20 August 2017, South West Trains is the key operator for western Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset, and also serves London, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon. Most SWT services run on electrified lines using the 750 V DC third-rail system, SWT operates almost 1,700 trains per day. From Waterloo, SWTs London terminus, long-distance trains run to southern England, including the coastal population centres of Portsmouth, Southampton, Bournemouth, Poole. There are also trains to Reading, Exeter and Bristol, but these are not the principal fast services from London to those cities, the majority of its passengers are on suburban commuter lines in inner and south-west London, Surrey, east Berkshire, and north-east Hampshire. Since privatisation in 1996, the network has changed considerably and it no longer serves West Croydon, Sutton, Coastway stations between Chichester and Brighton, or the Reading to Basingstoke line. Services to Bristol, Mottisfont and Dunbridge and Dean have been introduced since the start of the franchise, as with most rail companies, non-folding bicycles are banned from peak-time trains to and from London. However, these apply only to cyclists boarding or alighting in the area bounded by Hook, Alton, Guildford. The aim is to maximise available space on the most crowded trains. South West Trains also has Quiet Zones, similar to the Quiet Coaches on trains operated by certain other Train Operating Companies, Quiet Zones are available on most outer-suburban services and on some express services and are indicated by notices in the windows and signs on the doors. Passengers in these zones are requested not to use mobile phones or play music out loud, South West Trains operate suburban and long-distance trains
12.
British Rail Class 158
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The British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit, built specifically for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly heritage DMUs, the Class 159 DMUs are almost identical to the Class 158s, having been converted from Class 158 to Class 159 in two batches. A total of 182 units were built, the majority were built as two-car sets. 17 units were built as units, eight of these units have since had the centre car removed. The final ten units were built specifically for West Yorkshire PTE Metro services around Leeds, there were three varieties of unit when built. The standard batch, two- and three-car units had 350 hp Cummins engines, the next batch were built as non-standard to enable 350 hp Perkins engines to be fitted. The final batch were given higher-powered Cummins engines of 400 hp, another 22 of these higher-powered units were built, and became three-car Class 159s. Over time, the units have become mixed up as franchises changed, all units use P4-4A and T4-4A bogies. When introduced, British Rail described the Class 158s as bringing new standards of comfort, as built, interiors were described as fully carpeted, with panoramic windows and a variety of seats arranged both airline-style and in bays of four around tables. Despite an increased top speed of 90 miles per hour, the units also promised a smoother, quieter ride than its predecessors. The Class 158s were expected to achieve 13,500 miles of operation between major services and a range of up to 1,600 miles from each refuelling. Despite the attention given to facilities, the phrase garden shed engineering has been used to describe the build. The class has suffered from unreliable air-conditioning systems since the outlawing of the CFC gases with which they were originally designed to work. Following privatisation, many operators undertook to re-engineer or entirely replace such equipment, as a result, the systems in use and their effectiveness now vary across the fleet. The lightweight aluminium body of the Class 158s leads to a route availability score. However, the units were refused permission by Network Rail to operate on the Conwy Valley, ScotRail was the first part of British Rail to introduce the Class 158s to public service in September 1990, long after the planned date. These were employed on Glasgow Queen Street to Edinburgh Waverley services, as well as services to Aberdeen, the Class 158s then went on to be deployed elsewhere in Britain, primarily in the Midlands, Northern England, Wales and the South West. With the majority of the fleet coming under the control of the Regional Railways division, examples included long-distance Trans-Pennine services in the north of England, as well as a range of upgraded regional services under the Alphaline brand in the Midlands, Wales and the South West
