27/03/2017 South Today

Promises made today by the new owner of South West trains.

Britain's second biggest train operator is to be taken over,

in August, by a joint venture between First Group and MTR.

Running trains linking Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Dorset,

A ?1.2 billion investment over seven years.

There will be 90 new suburban trains.Others will be refurbished.

Many are 15 years old, and need a mid-life upgrade.

There will be faster journeys,eight minutes quicker

from Southampton to Waterloo, 11 minutes faster from Salisbury.

And a new coastal service linking Portsmouth and Weymouth.

Here's our transport correspondent Paul Clifton.

South West trains is the only franchise to have remained

in the same hands since privatisation, 21 years ago.

The service has consistently been rated among the best.

From August, we will see a new owner, which has

The three clear priorities are a more reliable railway,

better handling of destruction, more trains and more seats,

if not more chance of getting on or at least standing in comfort.

First Group runs Great Western, Hong Kong owned MTR

It also means coming in with new and flexible ticketing.

For example, we will be offering season tickets for people who only

We are extending child discounts to 16-18 -year-olds.

So it is just about flexibility, but also about simplicity.

We are delivering mobile ticketing, bar code mobile ticketing.

Hang on though, they will take charge in August.

Right in the middle of a massive, disruptive rebuilding of Waterloo.

By far the busiest station in Britain.

Less crowding, so you don't have to get rush-hour trains

I think the service as it is now is fine for me.

Of course we would like to see more trains, but those are big issues.

The better trains promised for Portsmouth are in fact

Rejected by South West trains 15 years ago, rejected

They are 30 years old and nicknamed plastic pigs.

There's also precious little mention of it Isle of Wight Trains.

There will be more capacity, more reliable services,

more frequent services and indeed, faster services, so an upgrade

First Group and MTR say they'll progress plans for two

new stations in Guildford and Wilton Parkway near Salisbury.

They'll also renovate Southampton Central station.

Paul Clifton was there when I asked him whether seven years

is long enough for them to deliver on what they're promising.

Doing all this in seven years is a big ask.

Particularly in terms of the changes to ticketing.

Smart cards, bar code readers on mobile phones,

a lot of the rail industry doesn't have this technology yet.

So getting it all running for 200,000 passengers a day,

getting 4,500 staff used to it, is a big ask.

Will driver only operation be introduced?

Driver only operation was requested by the government as part

On some of the newer trains, they will be equipped to do that.

Some of the older ones, like this great Western

train coming in now, they will not be able

So during the seven years, I think we'll see some

changes put in place, mostly towards the London and,

but Out here, by Southampton, they'll still mostly carry card

"The misery and anguish you inflicted were quite appalling."

The words of a judge today, levelled against Julie Higgins,

a Dorset woman who pretended to be a cancer doctor.

She offered false hope to a patient suffering from a terminal condition.

In reality, Higgins was just a first-aider.

And her patient, Angela Murray, died just weeks after

Hiding from the world, the relatives of this dying woman

She fooled people into believing she was a surgeon,

Those of the local supermarket, people who attended nearby keep fit

class women at this hairdressing salon where she would often attend

appointments dressed in what seemed to be a paramedic uniform.

When they discovered another patient given a terminal diagnosis,

It was an act of charity that they have come

Angela Murray was told to stop taking medication prescribed

by her GP and placed on stand-by for a life-saving heart

But eventually, she learned it was all lies.

Angela died four weeks after we found this woman was a fraud.

She suffered a hundred times more than we did,

This woman is now free to walk the streets and do the same again.

All I could ask was that if anybody is out there who has suffered

at the hands of this woman, please get in touch

The courts gave Ms Higgins a 12 month community order

and told her to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

The judge apologised to the victim's family.

It won't bring her back. I'm just devastated.

The court pointed out she does not wear medical clothing or pretend

If she breaks those restrictions, Julie Higgins could go to prison.

In 1971 the south coast got a new landmark, and this is it.

The 200 metre high chimney at Fawley power station,

The power plant shut down four years ago, but now there are plans

to convert the chimney into a restaurant and viewing

platform, as part of a major housing and business development.

The redundant oil fired Fawley power station was bought last

And the man behind the scheme says they are determined to hang

onto its crowning glory, the foot chimney.

would be mad to knock the chimney down. It's there. If you think of

the money that's been spent on the towel in Portsmouth, you name it,

this building is there. Architects have drawn up designs. They say

little structural work is needed. As you can see, the Fawley

project towers over the Blackpool Tower and the tower

Brighton and Portsmouth. It is not quite reach the loft

the heights of the tower in Dubai. Along with the tower,

a high-tech business centre and waterfront housing is also

planned, connected by a 15 minute In many ways converting the chimney

is simple thing. The rest of the development, homes, schools and jobs

will need permission. That's the next age. First of all a

consultation and planning application by the end of the year.

It's certainly not

a run-of-the-mill development. That's the latest

thanks for being there. We'll be back with bulletins in BBC

Breakfast tomorrow morning but now Sarah Farmer's

here with your weather forecast. A lovely day. Plenty of sunshine and

highs of 16 Celsius. What does the week ahead have installed? Further

sunny spells, warm earbud she was developing from midweek. Tonight,

Not too far. A little bit of mist Not too far. A little bit of mist

and fog. That shouldn't last very long. First thing in the morning the

sun gets going. As we go through the morning we see lovely sunny spells

develop. By the afternoon more cloud and the odd shower wiggling its way

in. 15 Celsius, 59 Fahrenheit, the best of the brightness. So tomorrow

afternoon the cloud builds winds pick up and we see some rain moving

into the early hours. Some places escaping dry but a wet night for

some. Not cold, temperatures up in double figures for most places. For

Wednesday it self, a cloudy picture, breezy too. I think it stays largely

dry suit daylight, bit of rain, chance of it sneaking in. Most

places stay dry. Temperatures continue in the mid-teens. On

Thursday we see the high-pressure moving away to the continent. A cold

front making its way in from the south-west. That's going to make an

impact on the end of the week. Most places staying largely dry. At least

through the day. By Friday the cold front is making its presence felt.

Some bright spells, clout to. A bit of rain and persistent outbreaks for

a while. Tomorrow, a showery day, some sunshine, cloudy through

Wednesday and Thursday. Friday fresher with rain.

For the weekend, looking a bit showery on Saturday, dry and

brighter on Sunday and if we go back to the temperatures in the next

couple days, you see those highs on Thursday. He is John Hammond with

the national this cyclone Debbie crashes onto the

Queensland coast with violent winds and flooding rains, that will head

southwards in the next few days in the direction of Brisbane. We will

keep an eye on Debbie. Meanwhile back home, much