Farewell train tour raises more than £45,000
South Western RailwayA farewell event for commuter trains being phased out has raised more than £45,000 for three charities.
South West Railway's (SWR) red Class 455 fleet has been in service for 42 years and is being replaced by new Arterio trains.
Tickets for the event, which took place on 21 December and saw two Class 455s run through places including Guildford and Epsom, sold out in 15 seconds, SWR said previously.
Originally scheduled to involve one train, "unprecedented demand" for the event led SWR and the Branch Line Society to add a second train for "hundreds of excited enthusiasts", it said.
South Western RailwaySWR said more than 900 people attended the farewell tour and the money raised will go towards the charities Macmillan, The Alex Wardle Foundation and Railway Children.
A total of 70 Class 455 trains were built by British Rail Engineering Ltd and came into service on suburban routes in March 1983.
The fleet runs through Surrey, Berkshire and south-west London into Waterloo Station, and will be retired by the end of the year, the rail company said.
The first of SWR's fleet of Arterio trains carried passengers between London Waterloo and Windsor in January 2024.
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