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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: ... 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 receive a ... more

 ... standard reply... 'we are on time for 95% of journeys'. Assuming you can stand being late and don't mind the bad customer service when you write in complaint, the onboard service also leaves a lot to be desired. Certainly on commuter routes I have ...more

missHelen
Premium Review First Great Western: Appauling time keeping from FGW (256 words)
by - written on 22/11/09 (Very useful, 7 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, 6 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, 60 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

Crocquen
Premium Review Excellent - a sleeper service (275 words)
by - written on 05/10/09 (Very useful, 28 readings)
Rating:

I have used First Great Western only a couple of times and have never had a bad experince, in fact its been pretty good. With that train company I have managed to find a service I no longer expected to find in this country - an overnight sleeper. In the summer I caught the Night Riveria service from Paddington to St Ives and it was great. It departed Paddington at 23.45 and I arrived in St Ives for 8.15 the next morning. I've been travelling down to St Ives for a number of years (from the North) and am used to taking a full day of my holiday travelling, but it was fabulous to travel overnight and arrive at my destination on the morning of the 1st day of my holiday. ...  Read the complete review

chrisc92
Premium Review First Great Western Trains - a good reliable service (1054 words)
by - written on 12/08/09 (Very useful, 64 readings)
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First Great Western Trains are operated by the First Group an Aberdeen trasport giant which not only operates a significant part of the rail network, but much of the bus one as well. As a company it has been in existence for 20 years. My experience of First Western Trains however is along what used to be one of Great Western's main routes between the South West/West and London Paddington. I've travelled many times from Taunton to Bristol and from Taunton to the capital over 8 years, and last week I had the opportunity to compare experiences. My partner (Sue) and I travelled from Plymouth to Paddington on 3rd August and returned on the ...  Read the complete review

 
First Great Western