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Great Western Railway (train operating company)

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Great Western Railway
Overview
Franchise(s)
  • InterCity Great Western
    4 February 1996 – 31 March 2006
  • Greater Western
    1 April 2006 – 31 March 2020[1]
Main region(s)London, Thames Valley, South West England, South Wales
Other region(s)West Midlands, South East England
Stations called atover 270
Stations operated197
Route km operated2129.2
National Rail abbreviationGW
Parent companyFirstGroup
Websitewww.gwr.com
Route map
Route map

First Great Western, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup, which has services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. It also runs the Night Riviera overnight train between London and Penzance.

Near the end of January 2010, First Great Western said that an £8,000,000 refresh programme to their fleet of Class 166 Turbo DMU trains would happen. In February 2021, GWR announced to purchase Class 319 “FLEX” units to replace the 158, 387, 165 and 166.

Trains in the current First Great Western livery.

The company began operating on 4 February 1996 as Great Western Trains, as part of the privatisation of British Rail, and in December 1998 became First Great Western[2] after FirstGroup bought the company. On 1 April 2006, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains were combined into First Great Western. On 20 September 2015, FirstGroup started to operate an extended franchise that is due to run until 30 March 2019.

Train services

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First Great Western runs most passenger train services on the Great Western main line.

Rolling stock

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References

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Preceded by
Great Western Trains
Operator of Great Western franchise
1998 – N/A
Succeeded by
TBA
Preceded by
Intercity (British rail)
Operator of Greater Western franchise
2006 – present
Incumbent
Preceded by
First Great Western Link
Thames franchise
Preceded by
Wessex Trains
Wessex franchise