FirstGroup’s National Rail Contract for Great Western Railway will be renationalised on 13 December, after Chiltern Railways has returned to public ownership on 20 September.

The current GWR contract started on 26 June 2022, but privatisation began on 4 January 1996, when a first-generation franchise lasting ten years had been signed on 20 December 1995 by Great Western Holdings, a joint venture between BR managers, FirstBus and investors 3i.

The original brand name was Great Western (or Great Western Trains), but when First acquired the shares of the other partners on 30 March 1998 the public name of the franchise then became First Great Western.

A new ‘Greater Western’ franchise began on 1 April 2006, when First Great Western absorbed the territories of First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains.

A further franchise began on 15 September 2015 as the result of a direct award, when the name was changed to Great Western Railway.

This franchise ended in March 2020 as a result of the Covid changes, and the following temporary ‘emergency measures’ contracts were replaced by the present National Rail Contract in 2022.

The changeover in December will bring GWR under the ownership of DfT Operator, before Great British Railways is launched in 2027.

After that only three former franchises will still be in the private sector – Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry. It is is known that CrossCountry will be renationalised on 17 October next year, but the termination dates of the other two have yet to be announced.

The Department for Transport said: ‘This is another significant moment for the government’s flagship public ownership programme and brings a simpler, more reliable network under Great British Railways a step closer.

‘The government is delivering on its commitment to bring services back into public ownership and put passengers, not shareholders, at the heart of our railways.’

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