THERE was a silent but historic transition in the early hours of Sunday morning as Stagecoach handed over the keys to the South Western rail network to new operator FirstGroup/MTR.

As the last ever South West Trains (SWT) service pulled out of Waterloo Station at 1.42am on Sunday, bringing to an end Stagecoach’s 21 years running the network, just a few hours later the first ever South Western Railway (SWR) trains pulled out of their sidings.

The occasion played out whimsically on Twitter as SWT shared the famous video of Barack Obama dropping his microphone at the White House correspondents’ dinner with the line ‘South West Trains OUT’ - followed seconds later by SWR announcing ‘All change, all change to the South Western Railway!’ accompanied by an image of Sir Topham Hatt from Thomas the Tank Engine.

Despite this declaration, very little material changes have been evident in the opening days of the franchise, especially on the Alton to Waterloo line serving Farnham.

However, SWR’s new red and yellow branding has been unveiled on some services, leaflets and posters, and more dramatic changes are promised.

First/MTR won the franchise after vowing to invest more than £1.2 billion in the network between now and 2024 - and reiterated this pledge in its first press release to the media on Sunday morning.

Improvements include:

• New and refurbished trains, with 90 new British-built Aventra trains to be introduced and the rest of the fleet to be refurbished and refreshed. SWR says this will increase capacity by 52,000 extra seats through the morning and evening peak by December 2020, while improved Wi-Fi, at-seat charging points, toilets on all suburban trains, ‘infotainment’ systems and better on-board customer information will also make passenger journeys better.

• More services and faster journeys - The December 2018 timetable, which is expected to be finalised by next May, will see more services, quicker journeys, and earlier and later trains - including up to 400 additional Sunday trains across the network, and new direct half-hourly services between Farnham and Guildford.

• Improved connectivity - SWR says it will support local communities by providing “greater regional connectivity”.

• Station investment - More than £90 million will be invested to improve stations, including better customer information screens, new seating and waiting areas as well as additional car parking.

• Value for money ticketing - Despite rail fares facing the biggest rise for five years in January, SWR says tickets will be on offer to encourage customers to travel by train “wherever possible”. This will include new promotional fares, an easier to use website and apps to support ticket purchase.

Plans also include flexible tickets for those that do not commute every day and a new ticket for 16 to 18 year olds to bridge the gap between child and full fare travel while still in education.

SWR’s planned improvements have been welcomed wholeheartedly by the Alton Line Users Association (ALUA). However, concerns have been expressed over SWR’s apparent unwillingness to commit to the future role of guards - the source of a near 18-month dispute on the Southern Rail network.

Speaking to The Herald last week, ALUA chairman David Jones outlined his opposition to the ‘drive-only operation’ of trains for safety reasons, and said a similar dispute on the South West network would be “horrendous”.

The RMT rail union subsequently staged a morning peak-time protest at Waterloo on Monday, calling on SWR to provide “assurance” they will keep a guard on all their services.

And Howard Kaye, a Farnham-based train driver, Aslef member and former Labour parliamentary candidate for South West Surrey, has also weighed into the debate.

Mr Kaye said: “Guards play an important role both in the normal operation of the train and in the unlikely event of an emergency, and offer a reassuring presence, especially to women.

“Without guards people with disabilities and mobility issues will have less access to public transport. A second person on the train also means that anti-social behaviour and sexual assaults are at a lower percentage than those using driver-only operation (DOO), and guards also ensure ‘revenue protection’.”

Responding, a spokesman for FirstGroup said: “Our plans are to increase the number of services and improve the customer experience on South Western Railway and are looking to create a secure and meaningful environment for our employees to work in. We value the role of the guard, which is why we will always plan to retain two people on our services.

“During our franchise, we will increase the number of drivers and guards so that we can deliver more services for our customers.

“We know that a second member of staff provides assurance to our passengers on trains and ensures we have capable colleagues on board to deliver assistance during the journey for anyone that needs help or advice while travelling on our trains.

“We will discuss the role of our guards with our staff, and how that role can be enhanced to provide a better service to our customers.

“We are confident employees will be excited by the focus on higher quality services for passengers that we will bring to this franchise. We look forward to engaging with our employees and the trade unions in the coming months.”