Greater Western Franchise
Background
The privatisation of the railways in the nineties created 25 franchises. As part
of the planned reduction to 17, a new ‘Greater Western’ franchise was formed by the
grouping of Great Western, Great Western Link and Wessex into one large operator.
Current Franchise
First Group were awarded the current franchise on December 13 2005 which started
on April 1 2006, and runs for 7 years. This means they run the buses and the trains
thus having a monopoly. However, theoretically they should be able to integrate the
services.
New Franchise coming
The current Greater Western franchise period will come to an end in 2013, so there
will be a new Invitation To Tender in May 2012 with a brand new specification, which
may include the Portishead line. The winning bidder will be chosen in December 2012.
The new franchise will start in April 2013.