Private company

South Western Railway

Former British train operating company

First MTR South Western Trains Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), was a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and MTR Corporation (30%) which operated the South Western franchise between August 2017 and May 2025. On 20 August 2017, SWR took over South Western franchise operations from the previous franchisee, Stagecoach-owned South West Trains.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

2017Founded1

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701 Kingston
Photo: Vanmanyo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

First MTR South Western Trains Limited, trading as South Western Railway (SWR), was a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup (70%) and MTR Corporation (30%) which operated the South Western franchise between August 2017 and May 2025. On 20 August 2017, SWR took over South Western franchise operations from the previous franchisee, Stagecoach-owned South West Trains.2

Corporate structure

South Western Railway sits at the top of its group. 2 entities, 1 country on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded South West Trains1
  2. Succeeded by South Western Railway1

Timeline

  1. 2017Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3