Twenty years ago today, Wessex Trains, Thames Trains and Great Western were combined into a single franchise, run by First, that operated most of the passenger trains in the Thames Valley west from London, Wessex, the Cotswolds,and the South West, with incursions into South Wales.

What do you consider the key events of the last 20 years? Was the change a success? What will the next 20 years bring?







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One of the gains: an end-to-end electrified railway between Paddington and Cardiff.

Mark

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I know that's supposed to be a rhetorical question ... but it reminds me of various comments at the time that it was an inauspicious date to start the new franchise.   Over the 20 years, so much has happened. Much good, and I rate for passengers and wannabe passengers, for the environment, for the economy - transport as a service.  But also many imperfections, lost opportunities, frustrations, other influences.

It is probable that the First era as we have seen it will come to an end later this year, and we have no certainly where we will be in another five, ten, or twenty years. It's a time of opportunity, but also of risk.   Passenger journey numbers (across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) main line rail network) have risen from 1 billion per annum to 1.7 billion per annum.    The big increase was in the first 10 years of the 20 - since then it has been a much flatter line - though that line corrupted by the external effect of Covid who's influence, amongst other influences, has changed the whole shape of travel and indeed life in general; we have "recovered" but with everlasting changes.