| Re: [OTD] 1st April 2006 - Greater Western Franchise takes over our trains Posted by Mark A at 16:16, 1st April 2026 |     |
One of the gains: an end-to-end electrified railway between Paddington and Cardiff.
Mark
| Re: [OTD] 1st April 2006 - Greater Western Franchise takes over our trains Posted by Mark A at 16:07, 1st April 2026 | |
Twenty years ago today, Wessex Trains, Thames Trains and Great Western were combined into a single franchise, run by First, that operated most of the passenger trains in the Thames Valley west from London, Wessex, the Cotswolds,and the South West, with incursions into South Wales.
One of the losses from this was the ambition associated with Wessex trains, who took the unglamorous basket of leftover services that were regional railways and put them on an upward trajectory. Passengers needing inter-regional services have lost out and opportunities for development have withered away.
Mark
| [OTD] 1st April 2006 - Greater Western Franchise takes over our trains Posted by grahame at 09:06, 1st April 2026 | |
Twenty years ago today, Wessex Trains, Thames Trains and Great Western were combined into a single franchise, run by First, that operated most of the passenger trains in the Thames Valley west from London, Wessex, the Cotswolds,and the South West, with incursions into South Wales.
What do you consider the key events of the last 20 years? Was the change a success? What will the next 20 years bring?
Images under collective commons licenses
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paddington_Station_Panorama.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Great_Western_Link#/media/File:166217_at_Reading.JPG
