South Western Railway (SWR) is staging a farewell tour for its Class 455 trains on Sunday, 21 December.

SWR's fleet of red trains, which transport customers from the likes of Guildford, Twickenham and Windsor to London Waterloo, will be retired by the end of the year.

SWR's new fleet of Arterio trains is being rolled out and will soon operate all its suburban network services.

In recognition of their role in the lives of millions of customers, their popularity with rail enthusiasts, and to mark the end of an era on the British railway network, SWR and the Branch Line Society will run a special charter service.

Class 455 in British Rail blue livery (Credit: Jeremy Chapter)

The 'Class 455 Farewell' tour will include some familiar places on the suburban network, such as Epsom and Kingston, along with a few special routes and locations, such as the District Line's branch between East Putney and Wimbledon, plus Haslemere on the Portsmouth Direct Line.

Just 400 tickets will go on sale, at a cost of £45.50 each, from the Branch Line Society's website at 11am on Monday, 10 November.

The profits will go to three charities, The Alex Wardle Foundation, Macmillan, and The Railway Children.

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Neil Drury, South Western Railway's Engineering and Infrastructure Director, said: "While customers are getting used to the many benefits of our new fleet of Arterio trains, we know there are a lot of enthusiasts out there who will be sad to see our classic red trains go.

"The farewell tour will be a fitting tribute to these trains, which have been a staple of our railway and worked incredibly hard for more than four decades.

Best of all, the proceeds will go to three specially selected charities."

He added: "We look forward to welcoming ticket holders on board on Sunday, 21 December."

A familiar sight for millions of commuters in South West London, Berkshire and Surrey, 70 Class 455 trains were built for what is now the SWR network by British Rail Engineering Limited, between 1982 and 1985.

They entered service on SWR's suburban routes on Monday 28, March 1983.

Arterio and Class 455 at London Waterloo (Credit: South Western Railway)

90 Arterio trains will replace the Class 455 fleet and are currently operating more than 300 services per day, with more joining in the coming weeks and months to transform journeys on SWR's suburban network.

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The brand new, 10-car trains will serve 98 stations in and around South West London, and each will carry over 50% more customers than the Class 455s, significantly increasing capacity for customers.

The £1 billion fleet will also improve customer comfort, providing modern features including Wi-Fi, charging points at every seat, real time information, accessible toilets and air conditioning.