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First Great Western


 First Great Western Transport International

First Great Western

 
Description: First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by ... more
First Great Western ... First Group, which operates services in the west and south west of England and South Wales. On 1 April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains combined into the new Greater Western Franchise. First were announced as the operator of the combined franchise in December 2005 for a 10-year period. On 1 April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains combined into the new Greater Western franchise. Three companies — First Group plc, National Express Group PLC, and Stagecoach Group— were short-listed to bid for this new franchise. On 13 December 2005 it was announced that First Group had won the franchise. The new franchise has kept the name First Great Western. Originally, First planned to subdivide its services into the following three categories. First Great Western Express - the original First Great Western route: London Paddington–Bristol–South Wales/Cornwall. First Great Western Link - former Thames Trains services, that were merged into First Great Western before the Greater Western Franchise started. Local/commuter trains close to London. First Great Western Local - former Wessex Trains services: regional trains in the south-west in and around Bristol, Bath, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall.

Newest Review: ... Cross Country, Transpennine and National Express I have a decent comparison for First Great Western. Overall the trains are of decent quality and seats are quite comfortable, with and without a table. Most of the trains carry on-board buffet which is priced at what you'd expect from the train companies. My main flaw with the trains is the lack of decent WiFi on board. This has been standard ... more

 ... for other train companies for a few years and is something that is really lacking for a busy business route. Whether this is the fault of the train company or the coverage as I find my phone signal is pretty thin along the route. At peak times and at ...more

marcfoto
Premium Review First Great Western Train Service (279 words)
by - written on 09/01/10 (Useful, 27 readings)
Rating:

I have been using First Great Western for around one trip a fortnight for the past 6 months, traveling between Wales and London. Usually traveling on the cheaper Super Saver trains. The cost is usually a decent amount, around £15-£20 return pre-booked or £40 on the day return. I should make clear that I use a Young persons railcard which I highly recommend. Having spent many a long trip traveling on East Coast, GNER, Virgin, Cross Country, Transpennine and National Express I have a decent comparison for First Great Western. Overall the trains are of decent quality and seats are quite comfortable, with and without a table. Most of the trains carry ...  Read the complete review

stuntpilotx
Premium Review First Great Western: Not the best, but better. (424 words)
by - written on 29/11/09 (Very useful, 29 readings)
Rating:

I have travelled on First Great Western Trains many, many times over the last six years, and now use them once a month to get from Bristol to London Paddington. I generally travel on weekends, usually leaving Bristol on a Friday afternoon and returning on Sunday evening. The First Great Western train network is ever-growing and now traverses the entire south-west, and far beyond. Overall, I find that First Great Western trains are punctual, reliable and arrive at their destination on time. However, this mostly only applies to their major route services. Those which pass through small stations tend to be out of date trains that don't have enough carriages and ...  Read the complete review

missHelen
Premium Review First Great Western: Appauling time keeping from FGW (256 words)
by - written on 22/11/09 (Very useful, 16 readings)
Rating:

I am a commuter who does the Reading to Paddington route Monday - Thursday before 8am and after 6pm and am sadly tied to using the ever infuriating First Great Western service. Although they claim to be on time for 95% of their journeys, sadly not one of these includes my trains. I am very rarely at Paddington for 8:08, nor does my train reach Reading on time either. This wouldn't ordinarily matter, I like most people can handle a 2-10 minute delay, however it's the lack of customer service response when their constant delays are pointed out to them which is infuriating. They do not admit they are unable to run a commuter route - if you complain you will ...  Read the complete review

nehpets81
Premium Review First Great Western - Could be worse! (240 words)
by - written on 09/11/09 (Useful, 8 readings)
Rating:

First Great Western is a company I seem to be travelling with quite a lot these days, and I must say the travel experience with them seems to be improving. The long distance inter city routes seem to be pretty good - they are not too expensive, the trains are fairly comfortable and the service seems to be quite punctual. The only real problem is that during peak times the trains are over capacity and quite a few people have to stand - the only way around this is to book in advance, which I tend to do for cost reasons when going long distances. The shorter distance routes are a slightly different story, however. I'm not sure where they got the ...  Read the complete review

LAZYGIRL
Premium Review First Great Western: Staff Make My Journey (292 words)
by - written on 17/10/09 (Very useful, 67 readings)
Rating:

I am a regular traveller on the First Great Western service from Penzance to London Paddington. I get on at Plymouth and have been travelling this route for the past 4 years every 2 - 3 months. I usually travel on a Friday evening after 4pm and return a Sunday evening or Monday morning. So i travel at peak times which is the worst time to travel on this service. Every time i use this service there are people standing in the aisles. You must made a reservation to enjoy this service (i say enjoy lightly) as it takes 3 and a half hours. So you dont want to start the service standing i promise you. This train i usually 6 or 7 carriages long but this ...  Read the complete review

 
First Great Western