First Great Western

First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup. It serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales. First Great Western's head office is in Swindon in Wiltshire, although like some other train operating companies, customer service operations are based in Plymouth in Devon. All regular services to and from London are operated from London Paddington station. On 1 April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains were combined into the new Greater Western franchise. First had been announced in December 2005 as the operator of the combined franchise for a 7-year period.

First Great Western operates high-speed services between London Paddington, the Cotswolds, South Wales and the West Country, commuter services in London and the Thames Valley, regional services between south-east Wales and south-west England, and local services in the south-west of England. It operates 210 stations, and its services call at over 270.

First Great Western operates a large diesel fleet. High-speed services are operated by British Rail Class 43 (HST) locomotives with Mk3 coaches. Commuter services in the Thames Valley use Class 165 and Class 166 Thames Turbo trains, while local services in the south-west are operated with a variety of two- and three-car Diesel multiple unit trains. Intercity trains run to the cities of Cardiff, Swansea, Plymouth, Bristol, Exeter and Hereford, and to the towns of Carmarthen, Pembroke (summer), Newquay (summer), Great Malvern, Penzance, Weston-super-mare and Cheltenham.