South Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Waterloo to destinations in Surrey, Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset, Berkshire, Wiltshire and Devon on the South West, Portsmouth Direct and West of England main lines.

[3] In April 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) awarded Stagecoach a new franchise after it beat bids from FirstGroup/NedRailways and Sea Containers.

[7][8] In December 2005, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Arriva, FirstGroup, MTR/Sea Containers, National Express and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to tender for the new South Western franchise, which combined the South West Trains and Island Line Trains franchises, both being operated by Stagecoach.

[14][15][16] In March 2013, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the DfT were in talks with Stagecoach to extend the franchise until April 2019.

[25][26] In March 2017, the DfT awarded the franchise to First/MTR owned South Western Railway (SWR) to commence on 20 August 2017.