First Great Western secures new deal to operate train services in the South West

The government has announced that First Great Western Ltd will continue to operate trains between London Paddington and the south west until September 2015.

First Group's First Great Western (FGW) company has reached agreement with the government to continue running the franchise to operate trains between London Paddington, the Cotswolds, south Wales and the South West.

The government claims rail passengers will benefit from improved services, including greater WiFi coverage, on the Great Western network as a result of the new franchise agreement announced on Thursday (3 October 2013).

The Department for Transport says that the new 23-month franchise will enable the continued delivery of vital work to upgrade the line in future, including electrification to help deliver faster, more reliable journeys.

The announcement follows lobbying of government ministers by local authorities and politicians - including those from Plymouth - for improved train services to the south west. This vital link for businesses and tourism has been a key concern for the economic growth of the region. Issues including the greater provision of WiFi, improvements to the line near Exeter where floods have had a severe impact on train services in recent years and the regularity and efficiency of train timetables have all been highlighted.

It remains to be seen to what extent the new short-term agreement will impact on these areas though the agreement includes a "commitment to deliver greater WiFi coverage".

The Department argues that its multi-billion pound programme of national rail investment by Network Rail has already seen more than £5 billion pumped into projects benefitting passengers on the Great Western network. These include Crossrail, the electrification of more than 200 miles of track on the Great Western line, and the upgrade of Reading Station.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said:

"The Great Western franchise provides a vital service for thousands of passengers every day and under this deal they will see real benefits.

"For communities like Devon and Cornwall the train is a life-line bringing in business and helping secure the leisure industry the community relies upon. This agreement will provide additional sleeper carriages between London and Cornwall securing the future of a key service once under threat.

"We have also secured a commitment to deliver greater WiFi coverage to improve the experience of long distance journeys for passengers. But I am also determined that we see further improvements during the lifetime of this contract; more standard class and fewer first class seats on key services and the delivery of more electric trains for the Thames Valley.

"This agreement provides further proof that the government’s new franchising schedule is on track, delivering value for money for the tax-payer and supporting the ongoing multi-billion pound investment programme in our railways."

The 23-month direct award with FGW will run until September 2015. The government says a further contract will be negotiated before a long-term franchise is let.

The Department for Transport says benefits of the new agreement will include:

two additional sleeper carriages for services between London and Cornwall, to provide additional seasonal capacity for leisure and business passengers - this agreement has been reached with the support of Cornwall Council and Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, which have provided additional funding for the service in recognition of the important role it plays in meeting the needs of business travellers
an agreement to fit more trains with free wireless internet services, so that passengers will be able to work and surf while travelling - priority for this upgrade will be given to long-distance trains, providing the benefits to the passengers who need it most
the retention of through services from Cornwall, Hereford, Weston-super-Mare, Bedwyn and Pewsey to London
more car parking spaces at Bristol Parkway station by spring 2014

In addition the government-funded National Station Improvement Programme will see FGW get £4.6 million to upgrade stations most in need across the Great Western network.

The Great Western Main Line is also set to benefit from 57 state-of-the-art intercity express trains as part of the government’s £5.8 billion Intercity Express Programme from 2017.

The Department for Transport says it will continue to work with FGW on a number of other proposals to improve services over the next two years, including:

delivery of a fleet of electric trains for the Thames Valley routes, which will allow for existing diesel trains to go to other areas of the franchise where they are needed, increasing capacity on those areas of the network
increasing the capacity of the existing high speed train fleet, with the addition of new seating in advance of the arrival of the new intercity express trains
smart ticketing
the delivery of improvements to services and stations through the life of the direct award

Ongoing improvements being delivered across the Great Western franchise by Network Rai, according to the Department for Transport, also include:

the redevelopment of Reading Station creating new platforms, better track layout and junction remodelling to remove a major bottleneck, reduce delays and create four extra train paths in each direction per hour
the electrification of GWML from Paddington to Bristol, Oxford and Newbury by 2016-17, which will allow the introduction of new intercity express trains. These trains will have 20 per cent more seats and their faster acceleration and deceleration will lead to journey time reductions of up to 22 minutes
the creation of a second track on 12 miles of the south Cotswold line to improve overall capacity between Swindon and Standish Junction and provide an enhanced diversionary route for south Wales
proposed improvements to stations working with FGW at Gloucester, Exeter Central, Newton Abbot, Plymouth and Truro, having completed schemes at Newbury, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Cheltenham, Chippenham and Penzance.