Chasing the Class 455 farewell tour

On Sunday the 21st December 2025, South Western Railway ran two farewell tours for the Class 455 which were soon to be retired. They initially planned to only have one railtour but tickets for that sold out in 15 (fifteen!) seconds, so they ran a second service one hour behind it. This would be perfect for chasing. To make things even better, there was another 455 in passenger service that day, which I could ride.

09:47 - East Putney Station

I arrive on the platform. Its a lot busier than I expect and I recognise some transport-related youtubers there. The best spot at the front of the platform has already been taken up by about 5 people, so I awkwardly try to slot myself into the emptiest section. Everyone's in quite a good, relaxed mood until we hear the tones as the 455 passes... Wandsworth town station.

After a few minutes of silence (with the exception of District line trains), the train slowly rumbles round the corner, giving off some tones.

After that, its a quick walk to Putney station, then a busy train to Waterloo.

10:35 - London Waterloo

The plan here was to film the train leave platform 19, but it turns out that it was blocked off for those taking the railtour. Oh well, I thought, I'll just film it from platform 18, hopefully there won't be a train blocking the way. turns out there was a train in the way, and not just any train but its successor, a Class 701 Arterio. But that's not the problem, the real problem is that the Arterio is 10 cars long but the 455 is only 8. Fortunately, the platform is 12 cars long.

Once the 455 left, I took the 701 (that one specifically) to Vauxhall.

11:00 - Vauxhall

Off to Vauxhall, where, in a stark contrast to the previous two times, there was only one other person on the platform.

Then it was back to Waterloo onboard a 701, a reminder of why the 455s were being replaced. People will often claim that the 455s were better than the 701s but they probably haven't taken them in the Summer. Hot, crowded, aging, and if you try opening the windows fast trains overtaking will slam them shut. The 701s are definitely an improvement in (almost) every way.

11:34 & 12:34 - London Waterloo

Back at Waterloo, I saw Railtour A (455 712 & 455 717) leave, then got lunch before returning to see Railtour B (455 871 & 455 727) leave.

After that, the two railtours would leave London to travel to Epsom, Guildford and Haslemere, so I decided to try and ride the 455 still in regular passenger service, which was heading towards Waterloo via Epsom from Guildford.

I initially planned to intercept it by taking a train to Wimbledon, but the 455 was delayed so I managed to get on it one stop earlier at Raynes Park.

13:15 - Raynes Park

it turned out that quite a few people had similar ideas to me. I spotted at least 5 people on the platform who were here for the 455, clearly marked by their professional cameras (and not boarding a 701 to Waterloo which had arrived a few minutes before). The unit I took was 455 729, which unfortunately had some graffiti on it. For my final ride on a 455, it was exactly how the average ride goes - packed, noisy and everyone oblivious to the fact that they might never ride this again.

13:51 - London Waterloo

Thus concluded what may be my final ever ride on a class 455. They survived sectorisation, privatisation (under two operators) and renationalisation, but their time has finally come. People were leaving marks on the train with their fingers (the train was so dirty that you could "draw" by cleaning off the dirt and grim), and there was definitely a feeling of the end.

After that, I decided to go elsewhere for a few hours, but that's for a future blog.

17:27 - London Waterloo (Again)

I decided to return to Waterloo to see the 455s one more time. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time so could only see the first railtour arrive at Waterloo then leave again.

And that was it. No more 455s. Truly the end of an era, one that lasted for much longer than it should have. But all good things must come to an end, and the 701s are an OK replacement (just ignore the ironing board seats).

Youtube video: