Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with South Western Railway on the introduction of Class 701 'Arterio' units; and in what order that operator will be removing the Class 455, 456, 458 and 707 trains.

Officials have regular discussions with South Western Railway as part of the management of the South Western Franchise, including discussions on delivery of the Class 701 ‘Arterio’ trains. The planned order of the cascade as these new trains begin to enter passenger services is that Class 707s will leave the franchise first, then 458s, then 456s and 455s in combination. SWR will need to retain some flexibility within this plan so to be able to manage maintenance requirements for individual units.