South Western Railway strikes gold at awards

South Western Railway struck gold at this year’s Golden Spanner awards with wins for its fleet teams in four separate categories.

The prestigious Golden Spanner awards, run by Modern Railways magazine, recognise the country’s best fleet teams at an annual event at which celebrates improvements in train maintenance practices and reliability. Representatives from each of the winning depots along with colleagues from Fleet Engineering and Fleet Performance joined more than 350 representatives from across the rail industry at the gala award event in London.

Our four Gold awards for the most reliable trains were won in the following categories:

• Ex BR DMU – Salisbury Depot for the Class 158/9 diesel fleets
• Ex-BR EMU – Wimbledon Depot for the Class 455 electric fleet
• Second generation new EMU – Wimbledon Depot for the Class 707 electric fleet
• Wild Card, repurposed traction – Ryde St. Johns Road Depot for the Class 484 fleet

This was an outstanding performance by the whole SWR Fleet team, and especially notable for SWR colleagues on the Isle of Wight who picked up their first Golden Spanner award in the repurposed rolling stock category, just a year after starting work on the Island Line’s Class 484 fleet.

James Wale, SWR’s Head of Fleet Delivery said: “Reliable trains are a key part of delivering the consistent service our customers want and expect from us, so I’d like to congratulate all of those colleagues that have worked so hard to achieve this recognition.”

Photo credit: South Western Railway

Download article