South West Trains wins coveted industry top awards for outstanding fleet reliability

· Most reliable electric and diesel fleets in the country
· Awarded three top prizes for reliability
· Most improved award for Class 158 trains

South West Trains passengers are officially benefitting from the most reliable train fleets in the UK, after the rail company today (Friday 26 November) picked up three top awards at the prestigious ‘Golden Spanner’ awards.
For the first time, South West Trains picked up the top awards for the best reliability of both its Class 444 and Class 455 trains. In addition, once again, the team at South West Trains won the award for the most reliable former BR diesel multiple unit.
South West Trains’ Salisbury depot also won a Silver Spanner award for the largest performance improvement in the last year in the category of former BR Diesel Multiple Unit, for the Class 158 fleet.
The ceremony, organised by industry magazine Modern Railways, awarded the highest distinction to South West Trains’ fleets in the three categories in which it has a fleet type.
A Golden Spanner went to the Class 444 train, built and maintained by Siemens under contract to South West Trains, taking first place in the ‘Modern EMU’ (Electric Multiple Unit) category as the most reliable fleet of its type, thanks to reliability being improved by an impressive 30% since last year. This fleet is now the most reliable fleet of trains, of any type, anywhere in the UK.
The former BR EMU Golden Spanner award was bestowed on the Class 455 train which is maintained at Wimbledon depot. Last but by no means least, the Class 159 train maintained at Salisbury depot also picked up the Golden Spanner award in the former BR Diesel Multiple Unit fleet category for the fifth year running.
South West Trains’ programme of improvements to its fleet means the average distance operated by any train between any technical defects (causing 5 minutes or more delays) occurring is over 40,000 miles, compared with the industry average of 13,000 miles. This represents the equivalent of more than a complete round the world journey without any technical faults.
Christian Roth, South West Trains’ Engineering Director said: “We are extremely proud to win all three of these nationally recognised awards. It is a real tribute to the hard work of our engineering team, day in and day out, and to the close working relationship with Siemens. Our focus now is to build on this significant progress and improve our performance even further.
“Train reliability is vital for our customers and therefore is a top priority for South West Trains. This is really good news for our passengers; more reliable trains mean more reliable journeys.”
Steve White, Service Director for Siemens Rolling Stock said: “We are delighted that the Siemens Class 444 train has been officially acknowledged as the most reliable train in the UK.  This is a fantastic achievement for the partnership between the Siemens maintenance team and the South West Trains operations team."
South West Trains operates the fleets of Class 444, Class 159 and Class 455 trains from London Waterloo across a large part of the South West of England. In addition, South West Trains operates fleet of Class 450s, Class 458s and Class 158s which are also towards the top of the national performance league in their categories.
The annual ‘Golden Spanner Awards’ recognise improvements in train reliability across the UK rail industry. The awards are based on statistical data and are regarded across the industry as being an accurate assessment of fleet reliability. Different classes of trains operating throughout the network are ranked on the distance they cover between technical faults by the Association of Train Operating Companies’ National Fleet Reliability Improvement Programme.