Great Western Railway (GWR) is a British train operating company owned by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Greater Western passenger railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270. GWR operates long-distance inter-city services along the Great Western Main Line to and from the

West of England West of England is a combined authority area in South West England. It is made up of the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset unitary authorities. The combined authority is led by the Mayor of the West of England Dan N ...

and

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, inter-city services from London to the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Gloucesters ...

via the

Reading–Taunton line The Reading–Taunton line is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line from which it diverges at Reading railway station. It runs to Cogload Junction (east of Taunton) where it joins the Bristol to Exeter and Penzance line. Since 1906 it ...

, and the ''

Night Riviera The ''Night Riviera'' is a sleeper train operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of only two sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom (the other being the ''Caledonian Sleeper'' services between London and Scotland). ...

'' sleeper service between London and

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

. It also provides commuter and outer-suburban services from its London terminus at

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

to West London, the

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

region including parts of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, parts of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

; and regional services throughout the West of England and South Wales to the South coast of England. Great Western Railway also provides and maintains the Electrostar Class 387 fleet for

Heathrow Express Heathrow Express is a high-frequency airport rail link operating between London Heathrow Airport and . Opened in 1998, trains run non-stop, with a journey time of 15 minutes. The service is operated jointly by Great Western Railway and Heathrow ...

. The company began operating in February 1996 as Great Western Trains, as part of the

privatisation of British Rail The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the industr ...

. In December 1998 it became First Great Western after FirstGroup bought out its partners' shares in Great Western Holdings. In April 2006, First Great Western,

First Great Western Link First Great Western Link (FGWL) was a train operating company in England owned by FirstGroup that operated the Thames franchise from April 2004 until March 2006. History In April 2003 the Strategic Rail Authority invited FirstGroup and Go-Ahe ...

and

Wessex Trains Wessex Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the Wessex Trains franchise from October 2001 until March 2006, when the franchise was merged with the Great Western and Thames Valley f ...

were combined into the new Greater Western franchise and brought under the First Great Western brand. The company adopted its current name and a new livery in September 2015 to coincide with the start of an extended franchise that is due to run until 31 March 2023.

History

09 014 Bf London Paddington, 43 186 Great Western

As part of the

, the Great Western

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

franchise was awarded by the

Director of Passenger Rail Franchising The Director of Passenger Rail Franchising was a statutory office in the United Kingdom created in 1993 by the Railways Act 1993 and usually called the Franchising Director. It lasted from 5 November 1993 until 31 January 2001 when it was sup ...

to Great Western Holdings in December 1995, and it began operations on 4 February 1996. Great Western Holdings was owned by some former British Rail managers (51%),

FirstBus FirstGroup plc is a British Multinational corporation, multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.3i (24.5%). In March 1998, FirstGroup bought out its partners' stakes to give it 100% ownership. In December 1998, the franchise was rebranded First Great Western. On 1 April 2004,

began operating the

Thames Trains Thames Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Go-Ahead that operated the Thames Trains franchise from October 1996 until March 2004. History The Thames Trains franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Ra ...

franchise. It ran local services from Paddington to , , ,

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...

, , , ,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, , and Stratford upon Avon. It also operated services from Reading to (via

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

and ), and from Reading to . 166217 at Reading

On 1 April 2006, the Great Western, Great Western Link and

franchises were combined into a new Greater Western franchise. FirstGroup,

National Express National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...

and

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

were shortlisted to bid for it. On 13 December 2005, it was announced that FirstGroup had won the franchise. Originally, First planned to subdivide its services into three categories based on routes. Following feedback from staff and stakeholders, the decision was taken to re-brand and re-livery all services as 'First Great Western'.Page from the franchise site using "First Great Western" as name.
In May 2011, FirstGroup announced that it had decided not to take up the option to extend its franchise beyond the end of March 2013. It stated that, in the light of the £1billion plan to electrify the Great Western route from London via Bristol to Cardiff, it wished to try to negotiate a longer-term deal. CEO Tim O'Toole said: "We believe we are best placed to manage these projects and capture the benefits through a longer-term franchise." By not taking up the option to extend its original franchise contract for a further three years, FirstGroup avoided having to pay £826.6million to the government; it received extra subsidies totalling £133million from the government in 2010. In March 2012,

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England. But it was announced in July 2012 that the franchise would be extended, due to the late issue of the

invitation to tender An invitation to tender (ITT, otherwise known as a call for bids or a request for tenders) is a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors looking to obtain an award of business ...

(ITT). The ITT ran from the end of July until October 2012. The winner would have been announced in March 2013, and taken on the franchise from 21 July 2013 until the end of July 2028. The new franchise would include the introduction of new Intercity Express Trains, capacity enhancements and smart ticketing. The award of the franchise was again delayed in October 2012, while the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

(DfT) reviewed the way rail franchises were awarded. In January 2013, the government announced that the current competition for the franchise had been aborted, and that FirstGroup's contract had been extended until October 2013. A two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013, and subsequently extended until March 2019. A further extension to April 2019 was granted in March 2015. The refurbishment of first-class carriages in 2014 included interiors that featured a new GWR logo, with no First branding. The whole company was rebranded Great Western Railway (GWR) on 20 September 2015, with the introduction of a green livery in recognition of the former

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

which existed between 1835 and 1947. The new livery was introduced when HST interiors were refurbished, and on sleeper carriages and Class 57/6 locomotives. In May 2018,

TfL Rail TfL Rail was the concession which operated commuter services on two separate railway lines in London, England and its environs whilst the Crossrail construction project linking these lines was underway. On 24 May 2022, upon the opening of th ...

took over services from Paddington to Hayes and Harlington, and in December 2019 it took over some stopping services to Reading. In March 2020, a further extension to 31 March 2023 was awarded by the DfT with an option to extend for a further year. GWR was one of several train operators impacted by the

2022 United Kingdom railway strike The 2022 United Kingdom railway strikes are an ongoing industrial dispute in the United Kingdom that has seen the largest instance of industrial action in the country since 1989. It commenced on 21 June after members of the National Union of Rai ...

, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades. Its workers were amongst those who participated in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions.

Routes

Great Western Railway is the primary train operator in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, and

. The following is a simplified list of off-peak weekday service from the May to December 2022 timetables.

Intercity

Thames Valley

Bristol

West of England

Named trains

Great Western Railway's named passenger trains include:

Onboard services

Pullman Dining

Great Western Railway is now the only major UK rail operator with

restaurant car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that do ...

s. These operate on certain West Country and Wales trains to or from London Paddington. They are available to first-class and standard-class passengers, though only first-class passengers may make advance reservations, and they have priority over seats in the restaurant. Meals in the restaurant car are not included in the price of rail tickets.

First class

GWR has first class on all its long-distance high-speed services. First class on the IETs includes fabric reclining seating with tables at every seat, as well as an at-seat service provided by a customer host on most journeys. Unlike the previous HSTs, the IETs do not have leather first-class seating due to fire regulations. Like the HSTs, there are power sockets and USB charging points at every seat. There is

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...

throughout the first class-carriages, which GWR describes as 'upgraded'.

Standard class

Standard class is provided on all services. Many services on long-distance and regional routes have specific seat reservations.

Trolley service

An at-seat trolley service is scheduled to operate on most IET services, with a trolley in each portion of a ten-coach train. This is different from the HSTs, which had buffet counters branded as 'Express Cafes'.

Performance

Punctuality

In 2004–2005, 79.6% of trains arrived on time (defined as within 10 minutes of their scheduled arrival time). On 22 December 2006, the First Great Western InterCity service was declared the worst in Britain for delays, according to figures from the Office of Rail Regulation, with more than one in four trains running late. First Great Western admitted to misreporting the number of cancellations in the period from August to December 2007, revised figures showing the company to have breached the cancellation threshold in the franchise contract. Specifically the company was alleged to have deliberately cancelled trains on the day prior to service without the prior approval of the DfT, and without recording these cancellations on their performance figures. The company was also accused of falsifying records in order to claim dispensation for large numbers of cancellations. First Great Western was named in a

Passenger Focus Transport Focus is the statutory watchdog for transport passengers and road users in Great Britain, with offices in London and Manchester. It was named the Rail Passengers Council until January 2006 when renamed Passenger Focus. It was renamed ag ...

survey as the worst train operating company for 2007. On 6 September 2007, FirstGroup announced changes to its management structure, apparently designed to strengthen the First Great Western commuter services. Anthony Smith, head of the rail users council ''Passenger Focus'' commented, "A fresh management approach is welcome. Clearly, looking at the passenger satisfaction scores for First Great Western, the train company and Network Rail have a lot to do. However, passengers will believe it when they see improvements." Bristol Temple Meads railway station MMB 90 158953

Bristol Temple Meads railway station MMB 90 158953

Some delays are attributable to Network Rail rather than the operator, as the

Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting it ...

(ORR) found in September 2007, when it remarked that the First Great Western service continued "to suffer from very high levels of delays attributed to Network Rail" and described Network Rail's performance as "exceptionally disappointing". By 2009, passenger satisfaction with First Great Western was described by Passenger Focus as having "significantly improved". The company is no longer the worst-performing UK rail operator, a title which it held for a long period. However, the ''Which?'' survey of rail passengers published in February 2013 showed the company scoring lowest of the larger operators with less than 40% satisfaction (Virgin, which topped the poll, managed 67%). The latest punctuality statistics to be released by Network Rail for period 7 of 20132014 were 89.3% PPM (

Public Performance Measure The public performance measure (PPM) is a measure of the punctuality and reliability of passenger trains in Britain. It is the percentage of scheduled trains which successfully run their entire planned route, calling at all timetabled stations ...

) and a MAA (Moving Annual Average) of 88.8% for the 12 months up to 12 October 2013.

Remedial plan

In February 2008 the

Secretary of State for Transport The Secretary of State for Transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent i ...

stated that FGW had "fallen persistently short of customers' expectations and been unacceptable to both passengers and government", issuing them with a Breach Notice for misreporting cancellations and a Remedial Plan Notice as a result of exceptionally high levels of cancellations and low passenger satisfaction. As part of the Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western was required to achieve improvement milestones, to lease five more Class 150 units to allow three-car trains to be used on Portsmouth-Cardiff services, to undertake a much more extensive refurbishment of the Thames Turbo fleet, to offer 50% higher compensation for the duration of the franchise, to offer 500,000 more cheap tickets on off-peak services, and to improve station customer information systems. Failure to do this would result in FGW losing its franchise. FirstGroup's railway operating profit, meanwhile, was reported to have risen 10% in the six months to September 2007. Fake ticket, Fare Strike Movement

By June 2009, FGW had transformed its performance to become one of the UK rail network's more punctual operators, recording 94.6% of trains arriving on time. In February 2010 FGW was named Train Operator of the Year at the national Rail Business awards. Presenting the award, judges said, "First Great Western provides an extensive network of commuter, regional, local and intercity trains. The systems they have put into place over the last two years have made a significant improvement to the service they now provide." However, in February 2015 First Great Western came 17th (out of 21) in ''Which?'' magazine's ''Best and worst UK train companies'' survey. Customers gave First Great Western a score of 47% (compared to the worst-performing operator,

Govia Thameslink Railway Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is a train operating company that operates the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (TSGN) rail franchise in England. Within the franchise, GTR runs the Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern (Govia Thameslin ...

, with a score of 43%, and the best-performing operator, Grand Central, with a score of 76%). First Great Western also scored three out of five stars across five of six specific categories, apart from ''Value for money'' in which First Great Western scored two out of five stars.

Overcrowding

First Great Western has been criticised for overcrowded trains, and in January 2007 commuters on the Bath-Bristol service staged a protest against overcrowding. Participants were issued with imitation tickets printed with "Ticket type: standing only", "Class: cattle truck", "Route: hell and back", "Price: up 12%". The company threatened protestors with criminal prosecution and fines of £5,000, but staff failed to enforce ticket requirements. Alison Forster, First Great Western's Managing Director at that time, apologised to customers. In January 2008, another fare strike was held as a passenger group said that not enough improvements had been made, despite First Great Western announcing that 2008 season tickets and car-parking charges would be frozen until the end of the year. In August 2010, First Great Western was shown to have operated all the top ten most overcrowded trains in England and Wales, mostly between and . By December 2011, this had reduced to two. In 2011, First Great Western was revealed to be the train company with the highest levels of overcrowding: an average of 16.6% of passengers were shown to be standing during the morning and evening peak times. In 2012, it held the record for the most overcrowded train, carrying nearly twice its capacity, the 07:44 Henley-on-Thames to London Paddington. Paddington, the London terminus for many FGW services, was identified as the most overcrowded station. The company was also listed as the operator with the most passengers in excess of capacity in the south east region in 2012.

Disabled passengers

In July 2018, a disabled woman was threatened by Great Western Railway staff with police action and removal from the train she was travelling in, for using a disabled space for her mobility scooter. Canadian-born comedian Tanyalee Davis, who has a form of dwarfism, said she was humiliated when a Great Western Railway conductor made an announcement that she was "causing problems" which had delayed the train. The incident occurred after a woman travelling with a young child demanded that Davis make way for her pram. GWR said the incident should not have happened and "No one travelling with us should be left feeling like this".

Strike action

In 2015, the imminent arrival of the new trains provoked a series of strikes by the RMT union over who has the right to control the doors. First Great Western wanted to replace conductors with

driver-only operation One-person operation (OPO), also known as driver-only operation (DOO), one-man operation (OMO), single person train operation (SPTO), or one-person train operation (OPTO), similarly to Driver Controlled Operation, is operation of a train, bus ...

(DOO); however, following several discussions it was agreed to keep conductors on all IET services. Another strike took place in early December 2016 amidst a background of ongoing rail strikes on a national level. The RMT ballotted Servest UK workers employed on an outsourcing contract to GWR as cleaners; the ballot passed in favour of strike action by 98%. A disruptive transfer period in the outsourcing contract, from

Mitie Mitie Group PLC (pronounced "mighty") is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The ...

to Servest UK, had resulted in what the RMT referred to as the creation of a "two-tier workforce" amongst cleaners at GWR, with an inequality in pay and working conditions between cleaners employed directly by GWR and those outsourced to Servest UK. Two 24-hour strikes were held from 06:00 on 16 and 23 December, followed by a 48-hour strike from 06:00 on 19 January 2017. Further industrial action was suspended by the RMT following the January strike as a result of an improvement in ongoing negotiations between the RMT, GWR and Servest UK. The dispute was formally resolved in July 2017, as RMT members voted in favour of accepting a new pay deal.

The temporary withdrawal of IETs

In April 2021, cracks were discovered in the

yaw damper A yaw damper (sometimes referred to as a stability augmentation system) is a system used to reduce (or damp) the undesirable tendencies of an aircraft to oscillate in a repetitive rolling and yawing motion, a phenomenon known as the Dutch roll. ...

brackets (part of the suspension system) of and InterCity Express Trains (IETs). Eight trains were withdrawn from service and an investigation started into the cause. On 8 May, all these trains and similar ones operated by other companies were taken out of service. Cracks had now been found in the lifting pads (a component fixed near the

bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...

) and it was feared that if these were to fall off they may cause injury or derailment. The only IETs that were permitted to operate were those which had been carefully inspected and found to have no significant cracks. This meant that most of GWR's 93 IETs were unavailable which led to significant disruption to long-distance services. s operated additional services from

London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...

to which were later extended to and after approval was given for them to operate in service on this route. Three additional 387s were loaned from

c2c Trenitalia c2c Limited,Companies House extract company no 789726 ...

and were modified to work with GWR's fleet, mostly on services to . CrossCountry operated a service on behalf of GWR from Swindon to and the few available 800s and 802s were concentrated on services west of Swindon and to . Plans were agreed on 13 May to increase inspections of the lifting pads and yaw dampers so that more trains could be returned to service. A further six Class 387s were loaned from

in July 2021 and used in a common pool with GWR's existing 387/1 fleet, being surplus to requirements while the ''

Gatwick Express Gatwick Express is a high-frequency rail passenger service between , Gatwick Airport, and in South East England. It is the brand name used by the Govia Thameslink Railway train operating company on the Gatwick Express route of the Thameslink, ...

'' service was suspended.

Rolling stock

Great Western Railway inherited a fleet of

InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125New trai ...

sets ( Class 43 power cars and Mark 3 Coaches) and locomotives and Mark 3 sleeper coaches from BR. In 2006, it inherited a fleet of and units from First Great Western Link, and a fleet of , and units from Wessex Trains.

Inter-City services

Class 800 Intercity Express Train

Most Great Western Railway intercity services are operated by a fleet of 57 Class 800 trains from the

Hitachi A-train The Hitachi A-train is a family of rail rolling stock built and designed by Hitachi Rail using a common base and construction techniques. The stock is designed to facilitate a number of product life-cycle improvements including ease of manufacture ...

family. GWR operates most of its long-distance services between London and destinations such as , , , , , , , , , , and , using these trains, which gradually replaced the older

InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125New trai ...

sets between autumn 2017 and spring 2019. On 28 April 2021, six Class 800s were withdrawn from service due to cracks being found during maintenance and were sent to Hitachi for inspection.

Class 802 Intercity Express Train

Tiverton Parkway - GWR 802110 Plymouth service

GWR operates most long-distance services between London and destinations in the west of the network (such as , , Plymouth and ) using its fleet of 36 Class 802 trains, the first of which was introduced on 20 August 2018. Also part of the Hitachi AT300 family, these trains are almost identical to Great Western Railway's fleet of Class 800 trains except that the Class 802 trains have a higher engine operating power— per engine as opposed to —and are fitted with larger fuel tanks to cope with the gradients and extended running in diesel mode on the long unelectrified stretches in Devon and Cornwall. Hitachi has announced that testing of a tri-mode Class 802 will begin in 2022. This tri-mode version will have batteries fitted in an attempt to reduce carbon emissions entering and leaving stations.

Sleeper services

Class 57/6 + Mark 3

Four Class 57/6 locomotives haul ''

'' Sleeper services, and failed HST sets. When these are unavailable, GWR hires

Direct Rail Services Direct Rail Services (DRS) is a rail freight company in Great Britain. As of 2022, it is one of seven publicly owned railway companies in the United Kingdom, the others being NI Railways (the passenger rail operator in Northern Ireland), LNE ...

Class 57/3 locomotives to operate the ''Night Riviera''.

Thames Valley and Bristol services

Class 165/1 Networker Turbo

Redhill - GWR 165130 Reading slow service

The "Networker Turbo" is a two- or three-coach DMU used on shorter-distance services in the Thames Valley area, with the majority based at Reading Traction Maintenance Depot. They are mainly used on branches such as the

Greenford branch line The Greenford branch line is a Network Rail suburban railway line in west London, England. It runs northerly from a triangular junction with the Great Western Main Line west of West Ealing to a central bay platform at Greenford station, where ...

, Slough–Windsor & Eton line, Marlow branch line and Regatta Line. They are also used on services between Reading and Basingstoke, Didcot Parkway and Oxford or Banbury and sometimes services between London and Oxford. Some (eventually all) are based at St Philip's Marsh depot in Bristol, where they work on the most of the lines in the area including the Severn Beach line,

Heart of Wessex Line The Heart of Wessex Line, also known as the Bristol to Weymouth Line, is a railway line that runs from to and Weymouth in England. It shares the Wessex Main Line as far as Westbury and then follows the course of the Reading to Taunton Line a ...

, Golden Valley line and

Bristol to Exeter line Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...

. From summer 2018, they are due to run on Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour services too. In response to its Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western undertook a more thorough refurbishment of the Thames Turbo fleet than originally planned: the trains were to be fitted with improved lighting, carpets, toilets, and a revised seating layout. This refurbishment started in September 2016.

Class 166 Networker Turbo Express

The "Networker Turbo Express" is a three-coach DMU, similar to the Class 165 units but with an internal layout more suitable for longer-distance services. They are now mostly based at St Philip's Marsh depot in Bristol, where they currently work on most of the lines in the area including the

Wessex Main Line The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The Wessex Main Line intersects the Reading to Taunton Line at and th ...

, Severn Beach line,

, Golden Valley line and

Bristol to Taunton line Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...

Class 387/1 Electrostar

Reading - GWR 387132+387143 Didcot service

The "Electrostar" is a four-coach EMU built by Bombardier, with a 2+2 seating layout, tables, power sockets and free Wi-Fi. It can be operated in four, eight- and twelve-coach formations. The class began to enter service in September 2016 on weekday peak services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington, using the overhead electrical equipment used by

. Services using the class were extended to Maidenhead in May 2017 and later to Didcot Parkway, and from Reading to Newbury. Bombardier Transportation at Ilford Depot had modified twelve of these trains by December 2020, installing new first-class seating, Wi-Fi, luggage racks and on-board entertainment, to be used on Heathrow Express services. Rebranded as "

", and refurbished with Heathrow Express moquette, they replaced the existing , entering service on 29 December 2020.

West of England services

Class 43 + Mark 3 HST / Class 255 Castle

Stapleton Road - GWR 43094-43194 Castle Class to Cardiff Central

Great Western Railway will be retaining 24 power cars and 48 carriages from its former High Speed Train fleet to form 12 'Castle' 2+4 sets. They are branded as ''Class 255'' sets and will be for use on multiple services between Cardiff, Exeter and Penzance. All power cars being retained will have new nameplates, named after castles from across the area that GWR serve. The sets are progressively being fitted with automatic doors and controlled emission toilets, to allow their operation beyond 2020, at

Doncaster Works Doncaster Railway Works is a railway workshop located in Doncaster, England. Also referred to as The Plant''", it was established by the Great Northern Railway in 1853, replacing the previous works in Boston and Peterborough. Until 1867 it u ...

."GWR to retain 11 HSTs for local services" ''

Today's Railways UK ''Today's Railways UK'' is an English-based monthly magazine covering rail transport in Great Britain. It was founded by Platform 5 in January 2002 as ''Entrain'' as a sister publication to '' Today's Railways Europe'', in January 2006 it was ...

'' issue 181 January 2017 page 67 Due to a delay in refurbishing the Castle sets, slam door 2+4 sets known as 'Classic' sets were used until the end of 2019. Until 2017, GWR operated the vast majority of its long-distance services with a fleet of 58

InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125New trai ...

High Speed Train sets, each consisting of eight Mark 3 coaches sandwiched between two Class 43 locomotives. GWR operated the largest InterCity 125 fleet, owning five sets outright; the rest were leased from

Angel Trains Angel Trains is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO). Together with Eversholt Rail Group and Porterbrook, it is one of the three original ROSCOs. Angel Trains was established in March 1994 as part of the privatisation of British Rail. In ...

and

Porterbrook Porterbrook is a British rolling stock company (ROSCO), created as part of the privatisation of British Rail. Together with Angel Trains and Eversholt Rail Group, it is one of the three original ROSCOs. Porterbrook was established in March 19 ...

. From 2009 to 2012 (when Class 180s were reintroduced on the Cotswold line) all the company's intercity services were worked by HSTs except the Night Riviera sleeper service between London Paddington and Penzance. From late 2017, following the completion of

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...

from to the west of England, intercity services gradually became operated by Class 800 IETs, although a few peak services remained operated by HSTs until early 2019. GWR continued to use HSTs on services to Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance until May 2019, when they were all withdrawn in favour of Class 802 units. The youngest Class 43 locomotive dated from 1982. After a successful trial by

and FGW in 2004, two power cars received new MTU engines while two received new

Paxman VP185 The Paxman VP185 is an engine manufactured by Paxman, Colchester. It is used in marine and railway applications and available as both a V12 and V18. History The VP185 was launched in May 1993 as a successor to the Paxman Valenta. It differed f ...

s, fitted by

Brush Traction Brush Traction is a manufacturer and maintainer of railway locomotives in Loughborough, England. It is a subsidiary of Wabtec. History Hughes's Locomotive & Tramway Engine Works Henry Hughes had been operating at the Falcon Works since t ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

. The MTU engine proved the better option, both for reliability and for emissions, resulting in FGW, Brush and Angel Trains starting the HST Modernisation programme. The last power cars to be re-engineered were released in April 2008, while several other companies' HSTs have now all undergone a similar programme. GWR's High Speed Train fleet were refurbished by Bombardier in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and Ilford between 2006 and 2008, with leather seats introduced in first class, redesigned toilets, a redesigned buffet, and at-seat power points. The company opted for mainly airline seats, giving more seats per train. Following the

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

and

Ladbroke Grove rail crash The Ladbroke Grove rail crash (also known as the Paddington rail crash) was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove in London, England, when two passenger trains collided almost head-on after one of them had passed a ...

es, GWR requires its HSTs to have automatic train protection and

Automatic Warning System The Automatic Warning System (AWS) was introduced in the 1950s in the United Kingdom to provide a train driver with an audible warning and visual reminder that they were approaching a distant signal at caution. Its operation was later extended t ...

safety systems in operation. If either is faulty, the train is not used.

Class 150/2 Sprinter

Cheltenham - GWR 150232 Great Malvern service

The fleet of 17 two-coach Sprinter units was inherited from Wessex Trains as part of the Greater Western franchise shuffle. The fleet had been refurbished by Wessex Trains in 2003, with 2+2 seating arranged in a mixture of 'airline' (face to back) and table seating. The fleet is widespread throughout the former Wessex area, and carried a maroon livery with advertising vinyls for South West Tourism. Each unit was sponsored by a district, town or attraction and carried a unique livery. Most received names of attractions, places and branch lines. Two units were repainted into the new First 'Local' livery, but all units are now due to receive the new green GWR livery. As part of a national fleet shuffle, eight units went to Arriva Trains Wales on 10 December 2006, and were replaced with 8 Class 158 units. First Great Western received five extra Class 150/2 units in May 2007 as part of its Remedial Plan Notice, to enable three-car Class 158 trains to operate on the Portsmouth-Cardiff services. Five Class 150 sets were hired from Arriva Trains Wales from March 2008 until they were returned in November 2010.

Class 158 Express Sprinter

The is a two- or three-coach DMU used on regional express services in the former Wessex Trains area. In February 2008, as part of its Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western announced that it would form some hybrid three-car Class 158 units in March 2008, made possible by the transfer of five Class 150/2 units from Arriva Trains Wales. There are now ten hybrid units in operation and, combined with the non-hybrid three-car unit, this provides eleven three-car units to operate services between Portsmouth and Cardiff, Great Malvern and Weymouth. After the introduction of Class 150/1 trains from

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...

and London Midland, three of the remaining five two-coach Class 158s will be reformed to provide two further three-coach Class 158s. The fleet was refurbished in a programme begun in 2007, which included fitting of reupholstered seats, new lighting and floor coverings, CCTV within the passenger saloons, and refurbished toilets. At the same time, the exteriors of the vehicles were repainted in the updated FGW livery, including artwork depicting various local places of interest. GWR's Class 158 vehicles were refurbished at

Wabtec Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...

in Doncaster. In 2018, the 158s began running alongside the first completed Class 255 ''Castle'' set on services between

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

and

. Since then, more of the 158 fleet has gradually started to move more west with more 158 sets working services between

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

and

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignt ...

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

. The timetable change in December 2019 saw the start of the 158s taking over the 143s on the

Tarka Line The Tarka Line, also known as the North Devon Line, is a local railway line in Devon, England, linking the city of Exeter with the town of Barnstaple via a number of local villages, operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). The line opened in ...

to Barnstaple primarily, with some of the units also working on the

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

/ Bristol to Penzance route alongside the ''Castle'' sets.

Current fleet

Future fleet

In 2022, GWR's parent company FirstGroup issued an expressions of interest notice to manufacturers to supply a new fleet of bi-mode locomotives for its subsidiary

TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...

, with an option for additional locomotives to replace GWR's sleeper service locomotives. On 31 May 2022, GWR announced they are looking for 30 four coach 110 mph capable 25kv EMU's for services between London Paddington and Swindon, capable of continuing to Cardiff.

Past fleet

Former train types operated by Great Western Railway include: NVA 96603 at Penzance

Locomotive-hauled trains were in use on services between Cardiff, Bristol, Taunton and Paignton from December 2008 until November 2010 using

Virgin Trains Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from ...

locomotives with

Mark 2 Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, m ...

coaching stock. A second set hauled by EWS s was used between December 2009 and October 2010. These were withdrawn when sufficient DMUs were available following the transfer of six Class 150/1 sets from London Overground. First Great Western issued a tender in May 2013 so that locomotive-hauled trains, or other train formations, could be operated on the Taunton-Cardiff route again, proposed to start in December 2013, to cover for DMUs out of service for refurbishment on Monday-to-Friday diagrams. GWR also runs loco-hauled sets composed of seating coaches and a Class 57 locomotive from the

service between Penzance and Exeter St Davids as part of the summer timetable to release a DMU for other services. Twelve ''Pacer'' DMUs were received by First Great Western in 2007, starting operations that December. These were sub-leased from

Northern Rail Northern Rail, branded as Northern, was an English train operating company owned by Serco-Abellio that operated the Northern Rail franchise from 2004 until 2016. It was the primary passenger train operator in Northern England, and operated th ...

(where they had been stored), in part to cover for refurbishment of FGW's Sprinter fleets but also to allow the Class 158s to be re-formed as three-coach sets. They were based at

Exeter TMD Exeter Traction Maintenance Depot (or Exeter TMD) is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot situated in Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom and is next to the city's main St Davids station. The depot is operated by Great Western Railway and has an alloc ...

, working alongside the similar on services in

and

, including the

Avocet Line The Avocet Line is the railway line in Devon, England connecting Exeter with Exmouth. It was originally built by the London and South Western Railway, and was historically known as the Exmouth branch railway. The line follows the Exe Estuary ...

Riviera Line The Riviera Line is the railway between the city of Exeter, towns Dawlish and Teignmouth, and the ''English Riviera'' resorts of Torbay in Devon, England. Its tracks are shared with the Exeter to Plymouth Line along the South Devon sea wall. ...

and

. Five 142s were returned to Northern Rail in late 2008, following the completion of the refresh of Class 150 Sprinter units. The remaining seven units were returned to Northern Rail by November 2011 as they had been replaced by Class 150 units cascaded from London Overground and London Midland following the arrival of new ''Turbostar'' units. GWR's Night Riviera service also included the UK's last

Motorail A motorail train or accompanied car train (ACT) is a passenger train on which passengers can take their car or automobile along with them on their journey. Passengers are carried in normal passenger carriages or in sleeping carriages on longer ...

service, until that aspect was withdrawn at the end of the 2005 summer season due to low usage. First Great Western previously leased 14 ''Adelante'' units, operating on the Great Western Main Line, but following technical issues they were transferred elsewhere. In 2012, five units were returned to First Great Western to operate weekday services on the

Cotswold Line The Cotswold Line is an railway line between and in England. History Early years The line between Oxford and Worcester was built under an 1845 Act of Parliament and opened in 1851 as part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway. ...

, allowing class 165 and 166 units to be reallocated to increase capacity on Thames Valley services. The Class 180s left GWR in stages between June and December 2017 to join Grand Central. The 150/1s in the GWR fleet transferred to

Arriva Rail North Arriva Rail North, branded as Northern by Arriva (legal name Arriva Rail North Limited) was a train operating company in Northern England which began operating the Northern franchise on 1 April 2016 and inherited units from the previous operato ...

in stages, beginning with the first three in August 2017 when their leases expired, and ending in April 2018. The 153s also transferred elsewhere in stages too, with the first four units going to

East Midlands Trains East Midlands Trains (EMT) was a British train operating company owned by the transport group Stagecoach, which operated the East Midlands franchise between November 2007 and August 2019. Following the Department for Transport (DfT) award of ...

and the next five units going to Arriva Rail North. This left just five 153 units with GWR, which eventually transferred to

Transport for Wales Transport for Wales (TfW; cy, Trafnidiaeth Cymru; cy, TrC, label=none) is a not-for-profit company owned by the Welsh Government and managed at arms length by its appointed board. TfW oversees the Transport for Wales Group (TfW Group) consi ...

in April 2019.

Rejected fleet

It was planned for Great Western Railway to operate nineteen Class 769/9 units once they were fully rolled out. The operator intended to run the first services in spring 2019, but this was delayed by issues faced by Porterbrook in converting the units. However, the first vehicle has been delivered and all were expected to be delivered by the end of 2021. The eventual launch of the 769/9 units would have enabled the cascade of and 166 ''Turbo'' units to the

area and Class 158 units into Devon and Cornwall. Although initially planned for use in London and the

, while 12 units were modified for

services, the future plan for these units was to be operating on services between , and , which would have meant operating on non-electrified OHLE and third-rail routes. To enable this, GWR's allocation of Class 769 units would have retained their dual-voltage capability in addition to being fitted with diesel power units. The units would also receive an internal refurbishment and be fitted with air cooling. The first Class 769 to be delivered to GWR was 769943, which arrived at Reading TMD in August 2020. It was expected to enter service in early 2021. The Class 769 was expected to enter service with GWR between June and December 2021, but this was later delayed to 2022. In December 2022, GWR announced that the introduction of the Class 769 fleet would be abandoned and the units handed back to Porterbrook in April 2023.

Livery

Great Western Trains adopted a livery of dark-green upper body and ivory lower body, with a stylised 'Merlin' bird logo. Following the rebranding as First Great Western, fader vinyls were added to the lower body, with a gold bar containing the stylised FirstGroup ''F'' logo and separate Great Western logotype. This livery was sometimes known as the 'fag packet' livery. When the Class 180 ''Adelante'' units were delivered, they were painted in the intercity version of FirstGroup's corporate bus livery. This consisted of a purple-blue base, with pink and gold bars and large pink ''F''s on the carriage sides and white highlights along the roof and around the driver's cab. The doors were painted white to comply with the

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (c. 50) (informally, and hereafter, the DDA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which has now been repealed and replaced by the Equality Act 2010, except in Northern Ireland where the Act ...

. The HST fleet was repainted to match as they went through overhaul; however, the livery on the power cars was progressively altered to a plain blue base with pink and gold stripes, following problems with dirt build-up on the large white areas. The rolling stock used on the

sleeper service retained the green and gold First Great Western livery until the stock forming these services was refurbished in 2007, when they were painted into 'dynamic lines' livery with vinyls advertising that the coaches operated the 'Night Riviera Sleeper'. The new Greater Western franchise involved repainting the HST fleet into FirstGroup's 'Dynamic Lines' livery for intercity and commuter services in the former First Great Western and First Great Western Link areas. The livery was initially applied to the HST fleet as they went through refurbishment, although the Class 180 units did not receive the new livery due to the termination of their lease. The commuter units also received the new livery while receiving standard maintenance, as a refurbishment was not originally planned. A second livery known as 'Local Lines' was applied to the DMU fleet, replacing the 'Dynamic Lines' with the names of local attractions forming a similar outline. The rebranding of the company as Great Western Railway introduced a new GWR logo and a dark green livery with white stripes and grey doors in September 2015. Most rolling stock has since been re-liveried into this green livery; however, there are still a number of units that retain the plain FGW blue livery as these units are not due for a repaint. However, every train that wore the 'Local Lines' livery has been re-liveried into the green livery.

Depots

Great Western Railway trains are based at eight depots. Other depots at

Landore Landore ( cy, Glandŵr) is a district and community in Swansea, Wales. The district falls in the Landore council ward. A mainly residential area, it is located about 2.5 miles north of Swansea city centre. The north-easterly part of Landore i ...

(Swansea) and

Old Oak Common Old Oak Common is an area of Hammersmith, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London. Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme, the scale of which has led to ...

(London) closed in 2018.

Past Depots

TV documentary

Channel 5 broadcast two television series looking into day-to-day challenges of the Great Western mainline, including events at Dawlish (as well as the sea wall destruction), Cheltenham race day and rugby at Cardiff. It was broadcast as ''The Railway: First Great Western'' and the last series aired in 2015. A similar series based on London Paddington started in September 2017 and covered events such as the reaction to the

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...

and

London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...

attacks, and several days of severe disruption.

Future of the franchise

The franchise was due to end on 31 March 2020. In November 2017, the DfT announced its intention to negotiate a further extension for the franchise until April 2022 with an option to extend for a further two years. A new contract was agreed on 30 March 2020, running for three years, extendable to four.

References

External links

* , - , - {{FirstGroup FirstGroup railway companies Great Western Main Line Railway companies established in 1996 Train operating companies in the United Kingdom 1996 establishments in England

History

Routes

Intercity

Thames Valley

Bristol

West of England

Named trains

Onboard services

Pullman Dining

First class

Standard class

Trolley service

Performance

Punctuality

Remedial plan

Overcrowding

Disabled passengers

Strike action

The temporary withdrawal of IETs

Rolling stock

Inter-City services

Class 800 Intercity Express Train

Class 802 Intercity Express Train

Sleeper services

Class 57/6 + Mark 3

Thames Valley and Bristol services

Class 165/1 Networker Turbo

Class 166 Networker Turbo Express

Class 387/1 Electrostar

West of England services

Class 43 + Mark 3 HST / Class 255 Castle

Class 150/2 Sprinter

Class 158 Express Sprinter

Current fleet

Future fleet

Past fleet

Rejected fleet

Livery

Depots

Past Depots

TV documentary

Future of the franchise

See also

References

External links