SOUTH Western Railway has announced a £2billion investment in services in advance of another RMT walkout this Saturday – and the two following Saturdays in November .

A rail company spokesman said: “We are disappointed the RMT is continuing to target commuters and leisure travellers. The new trains the RMT is concerned about will be used on our suburban services not on the mainline.

“Even then we have guaranteed a guard will be rostered on every single service, and our growth plans mean more guards, not fewer.”

The £2billion will be spent between 2019 and 2024 across routes, which run out of London Waterloo.

The funding will be focused on renewing and maintaining existing infrastructure to stop it failing, giving people more reliable train journeys in the future.The work will also see the installation of digital-ready equipment for better 21st century services.

Haslemere Rail Users’ Group (HRUG) was given an exclusive preview of the extensive refurbishment now being undertaken at Eastleigh Works on a popular fleet of 1980s vintage Wessex Electric trains soon to be reintroduced on services through Haslemere.

Almost 12 years after they were taken off the Waterloo-Portsmouth line, 18 five-coach Class 442 trains are being given a £45million overhaul, before being brought back on fast Waterloo services serving Haslemere alongside the existing white Class 444 units.

The first part of a two-stage refurbishment programme comprises a complete internal refit, with Axminster carpets and new seating, new cycle storage space, USB charging points for every seat and a number of modern safety upgrades.

Underlining SWR’s commitment to guards, the Driver Operated-Only Doors will be rewired so they can be operated by a guard.

Testing of the first refurbished sets is due to sart on the London line later this month, with the first passenger services starting in December.

A second stage to the upgrade work will see new traction equipment and braking installed during 2019, with the full modified fleet in service by December 2019.

From then on, all fast services will be formed of 10-coach sets of either Class 442 or 444 trains, with their two-plus-two seating configuration, while the blue Class 450 trains, with their less spacious two-plus-three seating configuration, will be confined to use on stopping services.

HRUG secretary Martin Odell, said: “These were always very popular trains on our route. Their long-awaited return is a notable triumph for HRUG and for the ‘No 450’ campaign in our joint efforts to prevent use of the high density Class 450 units on fast services.”

‘No. 450’ campaign founder David Haberson, added: “I’m absolutely delighted to see the Wessex Electrics returning to the Portsmouth Line,”

“At last we are going to be seeing the return of suitable main-line rolling stock with two-plus-two seating on this important inter-city route.”