Long-delayed £1bn train fleet to launch

The new Arterio train fleet had been due to start running in 2019

An event to mark the rollout of long-delayed new trains for South Western Railway will be held later.

The Derby-built Class 701 Arterio trains are five years behind schedule.

Ninety trains, costing £1bn, were ordered in 2017 and were due in service from November 2019.

The trains were held up by extensive faults, mostly to do with software. Many have spent years stored in sidings.

The RMT union held 78 days of strikes about the role of guards on these trains before reaching an agreement with the train operator.

The first Arterio train carried passengers between London Waterloo and Windsor in January 2024.

The "development" service was mostly restricted to one return trip a day outside peak hours. Since then, only a few trains have appeared in regular service.

South Western Railway (SWR) said more trains would start work on other routes in the coming weeks.

It is training 750 drivers to operate them.

The trains are designed to hold more passengers

Earlier this year, the BBC used the Freedom of Information Act to try to uncover the total public cost of the delay, including the additional cost of keeping older trains running.

But the Department for Transport responded that, although it did hold the information, it would not reveal the cost.

It said the number would "prejudice the commercial interests of South Western Railway and the department".