Great Western Railway (GWR)^[3] is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the Greater Western railway franchise. It manages 197 stations and its trains call at over 270.^[4] GWR operates long-distance inter-city services along the Great Western Main Line to and from the West of England and South Wales, inter-city services from London to the West Country via the Reading–Taunton line and the Night Riviera sleeper service between London and Penzance. It also provides commuter and outer-suburban services from its London terminus at Paddington to West London, the Thames Valley region including parts of Berkshire, parts of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire; and regional services throughout the West of England and South Wales to the South coast of England. GWR was due to begin operating the Heathrow Express service under a management contract on behalf of Heathrow Airport Holdings from August 2018;^[5] however, this was later deferred to November 2018.

The company began operating in February 1996 as Great Western Trains, as part of the privatisation of British Rail. In December 1998 it became First Great Western^[6] after FirstGroup bought out its partners' shares in Great Western Holdings. In April 2006, First Great Western, First Great Western Link and Wessex Trains were combined into the new Greater Western franchise and brought under the First Great Western brand. The company adopted its current name and a new livery in September 2015 to coincide with the start of an extended franchise that is due to run until April 2020.^[2] The franchise carries around 105 million passengers a year.^[7]

As part of the privatisation of British Rail, the Great Western InterCity franchise was awarded by the Director of Passenger Rail Franchising to Great Western Holdings in December 1995 and began operations on 4 February 1996. Great Western Holdings was owned by some former British Rail managers (51%), FirstBus (24.5%) and 3i (24.5%).^[8][9]

In March 1998, FirstGroup bought out its partners' stakes to give it 100% ownership.^[10][11][12] In December 1998, the franchise was rebranded as First Great Western.^[13]

On 1 April 2004, First Great Western Link began operating the Thames Trains franchise. It operated local train services from Paddington to Slough, Henley-on-Thames, Reading, Didcot, Oxford, Newbury, Bedwyn, Worcester, Hereford, Banbury and Stratford upon Avon. It also operated services from Reading to Gatwick Airport (via Guildford and Dorking), and from Reading to Basingstoke.^[14]

On 1 April 2006, the Great Western, Great Western Link and Wessex Trains franchises were combined into a new Greater Western franchise. FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach were shortlisted to bid for it. On 13 December 2005, it was announced that FirstGroup had won the franchise.^[15] Originally, First planned to subdivide its services into three categories based on routes.^[16] Following feedback from staff and stakeholders, the decision was taken to re-brand and re-livery all services as 'First Great Western'.^[17]

In May 2011, FirstGroup announced that it had decided not to take up the option to extend its franchise beyond the end of March 2013. FirstGroup stated that, in the light of the £1bn plan to electrify the Great Western route from London via Bristol to Cardiff, it wanted to try to negotiate a longer-term deal. CEO Tim O'Toole said: "We believe we are best placed to manage these projects and capture the benefits through a longer-term franchise."^[18]

By not taking up the option to extend its original franchise contract for a further three years, FirstGroup avoided having to pay £826.6m to the government; it received extra subsidies totalling £133m from the government in 2010.^[19]

In March 2012 Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and Stagecoach were shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. The winner was expected to be announced in December 2012, with the new franchisee taking over in April 2013.^[20] But it was announced in July 2012 that the franchise would be extended, due to the late issue of the Invitation to Tender (ITT).^[21] The ITT ran from the end of July until October 2012. The winner would have been announced in March 2013, and taken on the franchise from 21 July 2013 until the end of July 2028.^[22] The new franchise would include the introduction of new Intercity Express Trains, capacity enhancements and smart ticketing.^[23] The award of the franchise was again delayed in October 2012, while the Department for Transport reviewed the way rail franchises were awarded.

In January 2013, the government announced that the current competition for the franchise had been terminated, and that FirstGroup's contract had been extended until October 2013.^[24] A two-year franchise extension until September 2015 was agreed in October 2013,^[25][26] and subsequently extended until March 2019.^[27][28][29] A further extension to April 2019 was granted in March 2015.^[30]

The refurbishment of first-class carriages in 2014 included interiors that featured a new GWR logo^[31] and no First branding. The whole company was rebranded as Great Western Railway (GWR) on 20 September 2015 and introduced a green livery in recognition of the former Great Western Railway.^[32][33] The new livery was introduced when HST interiors were refurbished, and on sleeper carriages and Class 57/6 locomotives.^[34]

Great Western Railway is the primary train operator in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Bristol, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.

Great Western Railway operates commuter services between London and destinations such as Slough, Greenford, Reading, Didcot, Oxford, Newbury, Bedwyn, Hereford, Worcester and Banbury. There are also services between Reading and Basingstoke; between Reading and Gatwick Airport via Guildford and Dorking Deepdene on the North Downs Line; and between Bristol and Cardiff via Newport.

Trains also run on various north-south routes from Cardiff, Gloucester and Worcester to Taunton, Weymouth, Salisbury, Southampton, Portsmouth and Brighton. Many of these run via Bristol. The company also runs trains on local routes including branch lines in Devon and Cornwall, such as the Looe, Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives branch lines in Cornwall; the Exmouth, Paignton and Barnstaple branch lines in Devon; and the Gunnislake branch line in Devon and Cornwall.

Great Western Railway's named passenger trains include:^[36]

Great Western Railway is the only major UK rail operator with restaurant cars. These operate on certain West Country and Wales trains to or from London Paddington and are available to first-class and standard-class passengers, though only first-class passengers may make advance reservations and have priority over seats in the restaurant.^[38] Meals in the restaurant car are not included in the price of rail tickets.

GWR has First Class on all its long-distance high-speed services. First Class on the IETs includes fabric reclining seating with tables at every seat, as well as an at-seat service provided by a customer host on most journeys.^[39] Unlike the previous HSTs, the IETs do not have leather first-class seating due to fire regulations. Like the HSTs, there are plug sockets and USB charging points at every seat. There is upgraded WiFi throughout the first-class carriages.^[39]

Standard Class is provided on all services.

An at-seat trolley service is scheduled to operate on most IET services, with a trolley in each portion of a 10 coach train. This is different from the previous HSTs, which had buffet counters branded as 'Express Cafes'.

In 2004–2005, 79.6% of trains arrived on time (defined as within 10 minutes of their scheduled arrival time).^[40] On 22 December 2006, the First Great Western InterCity service was declared the worst in Britain for delays, according to figures from the Office of Rail Regulation, with more than one in four trains running late.^[41] First was also the only train company to achieve a year-on-year fall in performance results.

First Great Western admitted to misreporting the number of cancellations in the period from August to December 2007, revised figures showing the company to have breached the cancellation threshold in the franchise contract. Specifically the company was alleged to have deliberately cancelled trains on the day prior to service without the prior approval of the Department for Transport, and without recording these cancellations on their performance figures. The company was also accused of falsifying records in order to claim dispensation for large numbers of cancellations.^[42] First Great Western was named in a Passenger Focus survey as the worst train operating company for 2007.^[43]

On 6 September 2007 FirstGroup announced changes to its management structure, apparently designed to strengthen the First Great Western commuter services. Anthony Smith, head of the rail users council Passenger Focus commented, "A fresh management approach is welcome. Clearly, looking at the passenger satisfaction scores for First Great Western, the train company and Network Rail have a lot to do. However, passengers will believe it when they see improvements."^[44]

Some delays are attributable to Network Rail rather than the operator, as the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) found in September 2007,^[45] when it remarked that the First Great Western service continued "to suffer from very high levels of delays attributed to Network Rail" and described Network Rail's performance as "exceptionally disappointing".

By 2009, passenger satisfaction with First Great Western was described by Passenger Focus as having "significantly improved".^[46]

The company is no longer the worst-performing UK rail operator, a title which it held for a long period. However, the Which? survey of rail passengers published in February 2013 showed the company scoring lowest of the larger operators with less than 40% satisfaction (Virgin, which topped the poll, managed 67%).^[47]

The latest punctuality statistics to be released by Network Rail for period 7 of 2013/2014 were 89.3% PPM (Public Performance Measure) and a MAA (Moving Annual Average) of 88.8% for the 12 months up to 12 October 2013.^[48]

In February 2008 the Secretary of State for Transport stated that FGW had "fallen persistently short of customers' expectations and been unacceptable to both passengers and government". She issued First Great Western with a Breach Notice for misreporting cancellations and a Remedial Plan Notice as a result of exceptionally high levels of cancellations and low passenger satisfaction. As part of the Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western was required to achieve improvement milestones, to lease five more Class 150 units to allow three-car trains to be used on Portsmouth-Cardiff services, to undertake a much more extensive refurbishment of the Thames Turbo fleet, to offer 50% higher compensation for the duration of the franchise, to offer 500,000 more cheap tickets on off-peak services, and to improve station customer information systems. Failure to do this would result in FGW losing its franchise. FirstGroup's railway operating profit, meanwhile, was reported to have risen 10% in the six months to September 2007.^[49][50]

By June 2009, FGW had transformed its performance to become one of the UK rail network's more punctual operators, recording 94.6% of trains arriving on time.^[51] In February 2010 FGW was named Train Operator of the Year at the national Rail Business awards. Presenting the award, judges said, "First Great Western provides an extensive network of commuter, regional, local and intercity trains. The systems they have put into place over the last two years have made a significant improvement to the service they now provide."^[52]

However, in February 2015 First Great Western came 17th (out of 21) in Which? magazine's Best and worst UK train companies survey. Customers gave First Great Western a score of 47% (compared to the worst performing operator, Thameslink and Great Northern, with a score of 43%, and the best performing operator, Grand Central, with a score of 76%). First Great Western also scored 3 out of 5 stars across five of six specific categories, apart from Value for money in which First Great Western scored 2 out of 5 stars.^[53]

First Great Western has been criticised for overcrowded trains, and in January 2007 commuters on the Bath-Bristol service staged a protest against overcrowding. Participants were issued with imitation tickets printed with "Ticket type: standing only", "Class: cattle truck", "Route: hell and back", "Price: up 12%". The company threatened protestors with criminal prosecution and fines of £5,000, but staff failed to enforce ticket requirements.^[56] Alison Forster, First Great Western's Managing Director at that time, apologised to customers.^[57]

In January 2008 another fare strike was held as a passenger group said that not enough improvements had been made, despite First Great Western announcing that 2008 season tickets and car-parking charges would be frozen until the end of the year.^[58][59]

In August 2010 First Great Western was shown to have operated all the top ten most overcrowded trains in England and Wales, mostly between Reading and London Paddington.^[60] By December 2011, this had reduced to two.^[61]

In 2011 First Great Western was revealed to be the train company with the highest levels of overcrowding: an average of 16.6% of passengers were shown to standing during the morning and evening peak times.^[62] In 2012 it held the record for the most overcrowded train, carrying nearly twice its capacity, the 07:44 Henley-on-Thames to London Paddington.^[61] Paddington, the London terminus for many FGW services, was identified as the most overcrowded station.^[60] The company was also listed as the operator with the most passengers in excess of capacity in the south east region in 2012.^[63]

In July 2018, a disabled woman was threatened by Great Western Railway staff with police action and removal from the train she was travelling in, for using a disabled space for her mobility scooter.^[64] Canadian-born comedian Tanyalee Davis, who has a form of dwarfism, said she was humiliated when a Great Western Railway guard made an announcement that she was "causing problems" which had delayed the train. The incident occurred after a woman travelling with a young child demanded that Davis make way for her pram.^[65] GWR said the incident should not have happened and “No one travelling with us should be left feeling like this".^[66]

The pre-imminent arrival of the new Class 800 saw a series of strikes by the RMT union over who has the right to control the doors, First Great Western as it was known at the time, wanted to replace guards with driver-only operation (DOO), however following several discussions it was agreed to keep guards on all IET services.^[67] Another strike took place In early December 2016, amidst a background of ongoing rail strikes on a national level, the RMT ballotted Servest UK workers who were employed on an outsourcing contract to GWR as cleaners; the ballot passed in favour of strike action by 98%. A disruptive transfer period in the outsourcing contract, from Mitie to Servest UK, had resulted in what the RMT referred to as the creation of a "two-tier workforce" amongst cleaners at GWR, with an inequality in pay and working conditions between cleaners employed directly by GWR and those outsourced to Servest UK.^[68] Two 24-hour strikes were held between 0600–0600 on 16–17 December and 23–24 December,^[69] followed by a 48-hour strike between 0600 on 19 January and 0600 on 21 January 2017.^[70] Further industrial action was suspended by the RMT following the January strike as a result of an improvement in ongoing negotiations between the RMT, GWR and Servest UK.^[71] The dispute was formally resolved in July 2017 as RMT members voted in favour of accepting a new pay deal.^[72]

Great Western Railway inherited a fleet of InterCity 125 sets (Class 43 power cars and Mark 3 Coaches) and Class 57 locomotives and Mark 3 sleeper coaches from BR. In 2006, it inherited a fleet of Class 165 and Class 166 units from First Great Western Link, and a fleet of Class 143, Class 150, Class 153 and Class 158 units from Wessex Trains.

Most Great Western Railway intercity services are operated by a fleet of fifty-seven Class 800 trains.

GWR operates most of its long-distance services between London and destinations such as Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Swansea, Carmarthen, Cheltenham Spa, Oxford, Worcester Shrub Hill and Hereford, using these trains, which gradually replaced the older InterCity 125 sets between Autumn 2017 and Spring 2019. Class 800s may also be used for services to Paignton and Plymouth, although the majority of services to far southwestern destinations are operated using Class 802 trains which have higher engine power to cope with the steeper gradients in the south west of the country.

GWR operates most long-distance services between London and destinations in the west of the network (such as Paignton, Newquay, Plymouth and Penzance) using its fleet of thirty-six Class 802 trains, the first of which was introduced on 20 August 2018.^[73]

These trains are almost identical to Great Western Railway’s fleet of Class 800 trains, the only key difference being that the Class 802 trains have a higher engine operating power – 700 kW (940 hp) per engine as opposed to 560 kW (750 hp) – and are fitted with larger fuel tanks to cope with the gradients and extended running in diesel mode on the long unelectrified stretches in Devon and Cornwall.^[74]

Four Class 57/6 locomotives haul Night Riviera Sleeper services, and failed HST sets.^[75] When these are unavailable, GWR hires Direct Rail Services Class 57/3 locomotives to operate the Night Riviera.^[76]

The Class 165 "Thames Turbo" is a two- or three-coach DMU used on shorter-distance services in the Thames Valley area, with the majority based at Reading Traction Maintenance Depot. They are mainly used on branches such as the Greenford branch line, Slough–Windsor & Eton line, Marlow branch line and Regatta Line. They are also used on services between Reading and Basingstoke, Didcot Parkway and Oxford or Banbury and sometimes services between London and Oxford. Some (eventually all) are based at St Philip's Marsh depot in Bristol, where they work on the most of the lines in the area including the Severn Beach line, Heart of Wessex Line, Golden Valley line and Bristol to Exeter line. From summer 2018, they are due to run on Cardiff Central to Portsmouth Harbour services too.

In response to its Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western undertook a more thorough refurbishment of the Thames Turbo fleet than originally planned:^[77] the trains were to be fitted with improved lighting, carpets, toilets, and a revised seating layout.^[78] This refurbishment started in September 2016.

The Class 166 "Thames Express Turbo" is a three-coach DMU, similar to the Class 165 units but with an internal layout more suitable for longer-distance services. They are now mostly based at St Philip's Marsh depot in Bristol, where they currently work on the most of the lines in the area including the Wessex Main Line, Severn Beach line, Heart of Wessex Line, Golden Valley line and Bristol to Taunton line.

The Class 387 "Electrostar" is a four-coach EMU built by Bombardier, with a 2+2 seating layout, tables, plug-sockets and free WiFi. It can be operated in four, eight and twelve-coach formations. The class began to enter service in September 2016 on weekday peak services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington, using the overhead electrical equipment used by Heathrow Express. Services using the class were extended to Maidenhead in May 2017^[79] and later to Didcot Parkway,^[80] and from Reading to Newbury.

Bombardier Transportation will modify twelve of these trains by December 2019 at Ilford Depot, providing new first class seating, wi-fi, luggage racks and on-board entertainment to operate Heathrow Express services, replacing the existing Class 332.^[5] Two have already been rebranded as "Heathrow Express" and are at GWR's Reading depot however they have been stripped to their bare bones inside with GWR moquette taken out of the seats along with the tables.

Great Western Railway has retained 24 powercars and 48 carriages from its High Speed Train fleet to form 11 'Castle Class' 2+4 sets for use on local services between Cardiff and Penzance. These are progressively being fitted with automatic doors and controlled emission toilets, to allow their operation beyond 2020, at Doncaster Works.^[74] As of May 2019, while all full-length HSTs have been withdrawn from Intercity services, short HST sets are progressively being introduced on local services in the South West. This includes using unrefurbished slam-door sets due to a delay in the sliding-door sets.

Until 2017, GWR operated the vast majority of its long-distance services with a fleet of 58 InterCity 125 High Speed Train sets,^[81] each consisting of eight Mark 3 coaches sandwiched between two Class 43 locomotives. GWR operated the largest InterCity 125 fleet, owning five sets outright; the rest were leased from Angel Trains and Porterbrook. From 2009 to 2012 (when Class 180s were reintroduced on the Cotswold line)^[82] all the company's intercity services were worked by HSTs except the Night Riviera sleeper service between London Paddington and Penzance. From late 2017, following the completion of electrification from Hayes & Harlington to the west of England,^[83] intercity services gradually became operated by Class 800 IETs, although a few peak services remained operated by HSTs until early 2019. GWR continued to use HSTs on services to Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance until May 2019, when they were all withdrawn in favour of Class 802 units.^[84]

The youngest Class 43 locomotive dated from 1982. After a successful trial by Angel Trains and FGW in 2004, two power cars received new MTU engines while two received new Paxman VP185s, fitted by Brush Traction of Loughborough. The MTU engine proved the better option, both for reliability and for emissions, resulting in FGW, Brush and Angel Trains starting the HST Modernisation programme. The last power cars to be re-engineered were released in April 2008, while several other companies' HSTs have now all undergone a similar programme.^[85]

GWR's High Speed Train fleet were refurbished by Bombardier in Derby and Ilford between 2006 and 2008,^[86] with leather seats introduced in First Class, redesigned toilets, a redesigned buffet, and at-seat power points. The company opted for mainly airline seats, giving more seats per train.

Following the Southall and Ladbroke Grove rail crashes, GWR requires its HSTs to have Automatic Train Protection and Automatic Warning System safety systems in operation. If either is faulty, the train is not used.

First Great Western inherited the small fleet of seven two-coach Class 143 Pacer railbuses from Wessex Trains following the franchise merger in April 2006.^[87][88] They are currently used on suburban services in and around Exeter. The Class 143 fleet was fully refurbished during 2008 and 2009, and painted in the same livery as the rest of the West of England fleet.^[89] Since they are unable to meet an accessibility requirement, they will be withdrawn at the end of 2019 unless they receive an extensive refurbishment proposed by Porterbrook (who own the class 143s and class 144s).^[90] The type is due to be replaced by Class 158 units, cascaded from the Bristol area.^[91]

Some units have been repainted in the green GWR livery, without any interior refurbishment. The first unit repainted was 143603 in July 2017.

In late 2011 the two original three-car prototype Class 150 Sprinter units (150001 and 150002) were transferred from London Midland to work services on the Reading to Basingstoke Line, allowing the release of Class 165 and 166 units to reinforce other Thames Valley services.^[92] They were transferred to West of England services in 2017.^[93] Both will move to Northern in April 2020.^[94]

The fleet of 17 two-coach Class 150 Sprinter units was inherited from Wessex Trains as part of the Greater Western franchise shuffle. The fleet had been refurbished by Wessex Trains in 2003, with 2+2 seating arranged in a mixture of 'airline' (face to back) and table seating. The fleet is widespread throughout the former Wessex area, and carried a maroon livery with advertising vinyls for South West Tourism. Each unit was sponsored by a district, town or attraction and carried a unique livery. Most received names of attractions, places and branch lines. Two units were repainted into the new First 'Local' livery, but all units are now due to receive the new green GWR livery. As part of a national fleet shuffle, eight units went to Arriva Trains Wales on 10 December 2006, and were replaced with 8 Class 158 units.

First Great Western received five extra Class 150/2 units in May 2007 as part of its Remedial Plan Notice, to enable three-car Class 158 trains to operate on the Portsmouth-Cardiff services.^[77] Five Class 150 sets were hired from Arriva Trains Wales from March 2008 until they were returned in November 2010.

All of Great Western Railway's Class 150/2s are now based at Exeter TMD.

The Class 158 is a two- or three-coach DMU used on regional express services in the former Wessex Trains area. In February 2008, as part of its Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western announced that it would form some hybrid 3-car Class 158 units in March 2008, made possible by the transfer of five Class 150/2 units from Arriva Trains Wales.^[77] There are now ten hybrid units in operation and, combined with the non-hybrid 3-car unit, this provides eleven 3-car units to operate services between Portsmouth and Cardiff, Great Malvern and Brighton, and Great Malvern and Weymouth. After the introduction of Class 150/1 trains from London Overground and London Midland, three of the remaining five 2-coach Class 158s will be reformed to provide two further 3-coach Class 158s.^[95]

The fleet was refurbished in a programme begun in 2007,^[96] which included fitting of reupholstered seats, new lighting and floor coverings, CCTV within the passenger saloons, and refurbished toilets. At the same time, the exteriors of the vehicles were repainted in the updated FGW livery, including artwork depicting various local places of interest. GWR's Class 158 vehicles were refurbished at Wabtec in Doncaster.^[97]

In 2018 Class 158s will begin running alongside the first completed 'Short set HST' on services between Cardiff, Bristol, Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance. Gradually as more 'Short set HSTs' enter service on the route, the Class 158s will move onto local and cross-county services in and around Exeter.

In April 2018, GWR announced that it was procuring nineteen bi-mode dual-voltage Class 769 units from Spring 2019 for use on Reading to Gatwick, Oxford and mainline suburban services to London Paddington to cover the loss of Class 387 units which will operate the Heathrow Express service.^[108]

Former train types operated by Great Western Railway include:

Locomotive-hauled trains were in use on services between Cardiff, Bristol, Taunton and Paignton from December 2008 until November 2010. These were Class 67 and Class 57 locomotives with Mark 2 coaching stock. They had one set of carriages initially, but a further set of carriages between December 2009 and October 2010. These services ran in the short term to cover for the unavailability of DMU trains. When sufficient DMUs were available following the transfer of 6 Class 150/1 sets from London Overground, the locomotives and coaching stock were withdrawn.^[109] First Great Western issued a tender in May 2013 so that locomotive-hauled trains, or other train formations, can be operated on the Taunton-Cardiff route again, starting in December 2013. This would cover for its DMUs while they are off for refurbishment on Monday-Friday diagrams. If locomotive-hauled trains were to be used again, they would start four years after the final trains from the previous diagrams ran.^[110]

Twelve Class 142 Pacer DMUs were received by First Great Western in 2007, starting operations that December. These were loaned from Northern (where they had been stored), in part to cover for refurbishment of FGW's Sprinter fleets but also to allow the Class 158s to be reformed as three coach sets. They were based at Exeter TMD, working alongside the similar Class 143s on services in Devon and Cornwall, including the Avocet Line, Riviera Line and Tarka Line. Five 142s were returned to Northern Rail in late 2008, following the completion of the refresh of Class 150 Sprinter units. The remaining seven units were returned to Northern Rail by November 2011 as they had been replaced by Class 150 units cascaded from London Overground and London Midland following the arrival of new Class 172 Turbostar units.

GWR's Night Riviera service also included the UK's last Motorail service, until that aspect was withdrawn at the end of the 2005 summer season due to low usage.

First Great Western previously leased 14 Class 180 Adelante units, operating on the Great Western Main Line, but following technical issues they were transferred elsewhere.^[111][112] In 2012, five units were returned to First Great Western to operate weekday services on the Cotswold Line, allowing class 165 and 166 units to be reallocated to increase capacity on Thames Valley services.^[82] The Class 180s left GWR during 2017 to join Grand Central.^[113] The first left the fleet in June 2017;^[114] the last transferred in December that year.

The 150/1s in the GWR fleet transferred to Northern in stages, beginning with the first three in August 2017 when their leases expired,^[115] and ending in April 2018.^[116]

Great Western Trains adopted a livery of dark green upper body and ivory lower body, with a stylised 'Merlin' bird logo.^[117] Following the rebranding as First Great Western, fader vinyls were added to the lower body, with a gold bar containing the stylised FirstGroup F logo and separate Great Western logotype.^[118] This livery was sometimes known as the 'fag packet' livery^[119]

When the Class 180 Adelante units were delivered, they were painted in the intercity version of FirstGroup's corporate bus livery. This consisted of a purple-blue base, with pink and gold bars and large pink Fs on the carriage sides and white highlights along the roof and around the driver's cab. The doors were painted white to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The HST fleet was repainted to match as they went through overhaul; however, the livery on the power cars was progressively altered to a plain blue base with pink and gold stripes, following problems with dirt build-up on the large white areas.^[117]

The rolling stock used on the Night Riviera sleeper service retained the green and gold First Great Western livery until the stock forming these services was refurbished in 2007, when they were painted into 'dynamic lines' livery with vinyls advertising that the coaches operated the 'Night Riviera Sleeper'.

The new Greater Western franchise involved repainting the HST fleet into FirstGroup's 'Dynamic Lines' livery for intercity and commuter services in the former First Great Western and First Great Western Link areas. The livery was initially applied to the HST fleet as they went through refurbishment, although the Class 180 units did not receive the new livery due to the termination of their lease. The commuter units also received the new livery while receiving standard maintenance, as a refurbishment was not originally planned.^[120] A second livery known as 'Local Lines' was applied to the DMU fleet, replacing the 'Dynamic Lines' with the names of local attractions forming a similar outline.^[121]

The rebranding of the company as Great Western Railway introduced a new GWR logo and a dark green livery with white stripes and grey doors in September 2015, which will be rolled out across the fleet by 2018.^[122]

Great Western Railway trains are based at eight depots. Other depots at Landore (Swansea) and Old Oak Common (London) closed in 2018.

Channel 5 broadcast two television series looking into day-to-day challenges of the Great Western mainline, including events at Dawlish (as well as the sea wall destruction), Cheltenham race day and rugby at Cardiff. It was broadcast as "The Railway: First Great Western" and the last series aired in 2015. A similar series based on London Paddington started in September 2017 and covered events such as the reaction to the Manchester and London Bridge attacks, and several days of severe disruption.

The franchise is due to end on 31 March 2020. In November 2017, the Department for Transport announced its intention to negotiate a further extension for the franchise until April 2022 with an option to extend for a further two years.^[124][125]