First Great Western are the Train Operating Company which operates train services for London to the South West of England and South Wales. The company is a part of the Big Transportation company First (Who Currently hold the franchise.)
First Great Western's fleet of trains include InterCity 125’s (Class 43 Power Car at on end and BR Mk 3 Carriages between. ) These are known as High Speed Trains or HST’s. These trains normally consist of 10 carriages of which 8 are passenger carriages and they operate on services to Oxford, Bristol Temple Meads, Hereford, Penzance and Swansea from London Paddington. Other Trains in the First Great Western Fleet are Class 166 / 165 units which operate services out of London Paddington to the Thames valley area and the North Cotswold's these trains are normally formed of 2-3 Carriages. First Great western also have 5 Class 180’s which operate services from London Paddington to Worcester Fore-gate St, these trains are normally formed of 5 carriages. Class 158’s are used on First Great Western's longer distance services in the south west of England. These are Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central, Brighton to Great Malvern and Weymouth to Gloucester / Bristol Temple Meads. Other trains are used on the local services in the Bristol and Devon area. These are class 150’s, Class 153’s Class 143’s and Class 158’s. These could be formed of 1-2 or 3 Carriages.
The Main line that First Great Western operate on is the Great Western Main Line which is one of the lines currently being electrified with a 25 Kv Overhead Wire system, This will result in a new fleet of trains with are electrically powered and are capable of faster journey times between stations.
The current Franchise for First to run the Great Western Franchise was up at the start of 2013 and talks between the Department for Transport and First are currently ongoing however the franchise will be up for renewal at the end of 2016.
Next Weeks Inside story will be on Greater Anglia.
^TB
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