SOUTH Western Railway passengers will soon benefit from more than 100 additional carriages and extra capacity on some of the busiest routes.

This comes following the disruption caused by Network Rail’s August works to extend platforms and increase capacity at Waterloo.

As part of the roll-out of new Class 707 trains, existing stock will be moved to elsewhere on the network to boost capacity, adding more than 5,000 additional seats for peak journeys by early 2018.

Morning and evening peak services will benefit in particular from Monday 11 December when the new timetable is introduced. A number of trains will be lengthened from eight to ten carriages, with others extended up to twelve carriages.

Andy Mellors, Managing Director for South Western Railway, said: “The introduction of new carriages is great news for passengers as they will unlock capacity across other parts of the network. Introducing these trains means we can make use of existing stock in the best possible way and implement real improvements in time for the new timetable this December. Between now and early 2018, passengers will really notice the difference especially during peak hours.”

Operation of longer trains on suburban services has been made possible by the platform lengthening works at Waterloo which Network Rail completed during the August partial closure.

Becky Lumlock, Route Managing Director for Network Rail, said: “It’s fantastic to see the benefits of our £800 million upgrade at Waterloo and across the route reaching passengers, with longer trains and more comfortable journeys. And this is just the start. By the end of next year, we will have reopened the former Waterloo International Terminal for domestic use, increasing capacity at the station by 30% at peak times.”

Basingstoke will mostly benefit in the peak evening times; The 4.42pm from Waterloo to Basingstoke will increase from 5 to 8 carriages The 5.11pm from Waterloo to Basingstoke will increase from 8 to 12 carriages The 7.12pm from Waterloo to Basingstoke will increase from 5 to 10 carriages.

The August works saw 1,000 Network Rail engineers and track-side staff working over three and half weeks to prepare for longer trains, making significant changes to platforms, signalling and tracks in one of the biggest and most complex engineering projects in Waterloo station’s history