western link overview franchise s thames 1 april 2004 31 march 2006 main region s thames valley other region s north downs cotswolds fleet size 62 stations called at 95 national rail abbreviation fk parent company firstgroup website www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk first great western link 1 was a train operating company in the united kingdom owned by firstgroup that operated the thames trains franchise from april 2004 until march 2006 . contents 1 history 2 services 3 rolling stock 4 depot 5 demise 6 references 7 external links history edit in april 2003 the strategic rail authority invited first and go ahead to bid for a two year extension to the thames trains franchise . on 4 november 2003 the strategic rail authority awarded the franchise to first and the services operated by thames trains transferred to first great western link on 1 april 2004 . 2 3 on 12 june 2005 heathrow connect was introduced as a joint venture between first great western link and baa . 4 services edit first great western link ran passenger services from along the great western main line from london paddington to greenford windsor & eton central marlow henley reading bedwyn oxford bicester town worcester hereford and stratford upon avon and the reading to basingstoke and gatwick airport services . the stratford upon avon service was transferred to chiltern railways in december 2004 with first great western link ceasing to operate beyond banbury . great western main line local services between london paddington and didcot parkway . cherwell valley line didcot parkway oxford cotswold line oxford hereford north downs line reading redhill reading to plymouth line reading bedwyn reading to basingstoke line reading basingstoke slough to windsor & eton line slough windsor and eton central oxford to bicester line oxford bicester town marlow branch line maidenhead marlow henley branch line twyford railway station henley on thames greenford branch line london paddington greenford rolling stock edit first great western link inherited a fleet of class 165 and class 166s from thames trains . a franchise commitment was to use five class 180 adelantes from sister company first great western on cotswold line services from december 2004 5 releasing five class 165 for transfer to chiltern railways . class image type top speed number built mph km h class 165 1 network turbo diesel multiple unit 90 145 36 1990 1992 class 166 network express turbo diesel multiple unit 90 145 21 1992 1993 depot edit first great western link s fleet was maintained at reading depot . demise edit on 6 november 2002 as part of a franchise reorganisation by the strategic rail authority it was announced that the great western thames trains and wessex trains franchises would be combined to form the greater western franchise . this was part of a strategic rail authority strategy to reduce the number of train operating companies providing services from a single london terminal . this was expected to improve efficiency and reliability . 6 on 13 december 2005 the department for transport awarded the new greater western franchise to first with the services operated by first great western link transferring to first great western on 1 april 2006 . 7 references edit companies house extract company 4804687 first great western link limited strategic rail authority 4 november 2003 . preferred bidder announced for new thames trains franchise press release . archived from the original on 2 december 2003 . rail magazine . no. 474 . 12 november 2003 . missing or empty title help heathrow connect . always touch out . 12 june 2005 . rail magazine . no. 478 . 7 january 2004 . p. 13 . missing or empty title help sra announces new franchise for the west strategic rail authority press release 6 november 2002 greater western franchise invitation to tender . department for transport . 2 february 2006 . external links edit official website redirects to first great western preceded by thames trains operator of thames franchise 2004 2006 succeeded by first great western greater western franchise v t e defunct train operating companies in the united kingdom since 1994 current future intercity anglia railways east coast gner midland mainline national express east anglia national express east coast virgin crosscountry wrexham & shropshire regional arriva trains merseyside arriva trains northern central trains1 first north western first scotrail first transpennine express2 northern rail scotrail national express valley lines wales & borders wales & west wessex trains london & south east connex south central connex south eastern first capital connect first great eastern first great western link gatwick express3 island line4 silverlink5 south eastern trains thameslink thames trains wagn 1 including central citylink 2 no longer operated with keolis and re branded 3 now a sub brand of govia thameslink railway 4 now a sub brand of south west trains 5 including silverlink county & silverlink metro v t e firstgroup united kingdom bus companies first aberdeen first berkshire & the thames valley first cymru first essex first glasgow first greater manchester first hampshire & dorset first midlands first leicester 94 % first midland red first potteries first norfolk & suffolk first scotland east first south west the buses of somerset first south yorkshire first west of england first bristol first somerset & avon first west yorkshire first bradford first calderdale & huddersfield first leeds first york first student uk international bus companies america first student united states first student canada first transit greyhound united states boltbus with peter pan bus lines greyhound canada greyhound mexico grey goose bus lines vancouver island coach lines voyageur colonial bus lines ireland aircoach railway companies great western railway heathrow connect with heathrow airport holdings hull trains transpennine express former divisions dsbfirst 25 % danish 30 % swedish first capital connect first chester & the wirral first great eastern first great western link first london first northampton first north western first gbrf first scotrail first transpennine express 55 % greyhound uk new world first bus 26 % future divisions east coast trains retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title first great western link & oldid 737649260 categories defunct train operating companiesfirst group railway companiesrailway companies established in 2004railway companies disestablished in 20062004 establishments in england2006 disestablishments in englandhidden categories pages with citations lacking titles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload 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