TRAIN passengers in the borough may find their journeys more comfortable thanks to a major refurbishment programme. The class 455 trains, which are the backbone of the fleet on South West Trains (SWT) suburban services, will benefit from a £60 million upgrade, it has been announced.

These trains are the regular type on all SWT services in the borough except the fast trains between London and Reading.

The carriages will gain a new seating layout, wider aisles, bigger lobby areas and larger door openings all of which are designed to improve the flow of people in the train, reducing delays at stations. The new doorways will make it easier for two people to enter or leave at the same time.

The first new-look train is expected to be in service in July, and the refurbishment of all 91 four-carriage units is scheduled for completion by the end of 2007.

Andrew McIntosh, who is managing the project at SWT, said: "The wider-opening doors will mean faster entry and exit at stations, which will improve time keeping."

More open space, with more handholds for standing passengers, will reduce the problem of bunching at the doors and encourage passengers to move down inside the train.

l The news came in the same week as claims that delays on SWT have trebled over the last six years. The Liberal Democrats compared train company figures from four-week periods in January and February 2004 with the same period in 1998, to find that SWT had recorded a 198 per cent increase in delays, the worst of the companies it surveyed.

Mr McIntosh explained: "We've also incorporated new high-back seats with a two-plus-two configuration. Passengers told us they didn't like sitting in the middle seat. We've also introduced perch-type seats."

The redesign was part of a consultation exercise with user groups, including passenger representatives and organisations for the disabled, but the company admits that these improvements have meant cutting the seating capacity of a four-car train by 40.

Mr McIntosh said: "The response was overwhelmingly supportive of the proposed changes. We are confident the modernisation will deliver significant benefits to our passengers. We are sure that passengers will appreciate that the overall benefits in terms of greater reliability, less congestion and shorter dwell times at stations far outweigh the small reduction in seating."

l The news came in the same week as claims that delays on SWT have trebled over the last six years.

The Liberal Democrats compared train company figures from four-week periods in January and February 2004 with the same period in 1998, to find that SWT had recorded a 198 per cent increase in delays, the worst of the companies it surveyed.