Greater Western franchise
The current holder of the Greater Western passenger franchise is Great Western Railway (formerly First Great Western)
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| Current operator | Great Western Railway | ||
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| Main Route(s) | Great Western Main Line | ||
| Franchise dates | 1 April 2006 – April 2019 | ||
| Website | www |
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Greater Western is a railway franchise for the provision of passenger services from London Paddington to the Cotswolds, West of England, South West England and South Wales. The current holder is Great Western Railway.
In 2003 as part of a franchise reorganisation by the Strategic Rail Authority, it was announced that the Great Western, Thames Trains and Wessex Trains franchises would be combined to form the Greater Western Franchise. This was part of a Strategic Rail Authority strategy to reduce the number of train operating companies providing services from a single London terminal. This was expected to improve efficiency and reliability.
In April 2005 the Strategic Rail Authority announced that FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise.
In December 2005 the Department for Transport awarded the franchise to First with the services operated by First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains transferred to First Great Western on 1 April 2006.
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