UK: ‘Growing our open access rail portfolio is a key priority’, FirstGroup CEO Graham Sutherland said on December 5 when the company announced that it had acquired Grand Union Trains GWML Holdings Ltd. GUT holds track access rights to launch an open access passenger service between London and Carmarthen. FirstGroup has also applied for paths to launch a London to Paignton service.
London to Carmarthen
The London Paddington to Carmarthen service is now expected to launch in December 2027, with GUT having secured track access rights to the end of 2037.
There will be five services each way per day, calling at stations including Bristol Parkway, Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction, Cardiff Central, Gowerton and Llanelli. FirstGroup said it would provide low fares, ‘more customer choice and much-needed additional capacity’.
It is still considering rolling stock options, and ’updates will be provided in due course’. The trains would have one class, free wi-fi and onboard catering.
FirstGroup expects the service to create around 100 direct jobs, and to contribute annual revenues of £50m after two years with a ‘low double digit’ operating margin.
FirstGroup confirmed to Rail Business UK that it is acting alone; Spain’s national operator RENFE had previously looked at entering the UK rail market by working with GUT and Spanish private equity firm Serena Industrial Partners.
London to Paignton
An application has been submitted to the Office of Rail & Road for the service to incorporate five return trips per day between London Paddington and Paignton via stations including Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Exeter St David’s and Torquay from May 2028, as well as a sixth path between Highbridge & Burnham and London.
FirstGroup said the Torbay area including Paignton has three direct rail services to London per day, and rail only has a 29% modal share on the route compared to 71% for road, despite a car journey from taking between 4 h and 5 h compared to its planned time of 3 h 20 min.
Open access
The Wales and Devon routes will be operated under the Lumo brand used by FirstGroup’s London to Edinburgh open access service.
FirstGroup is seeking to grow its open access business, which also includes Hull Train, in the context of the incoming government’s rail policy. This will see the transfer of Department for Transport-contracted passenger services to the public sector as existing agreements expire. This will see the end of FirstGroup’s operation of South Western Railway, Avanti West Coast and Great Western Railway services over the next few years.
The latest acquisition follows FirstGroup’s acquisition of Grand Union’s rights to launch an open access rail service from London Euston to Stirling. FirstGroup has also applied for paths to launch London – Manchester/Rochdale and London – Sheffield services.
‘The introduction of our new Carmarthen to London Paddington service will significantly bolster our footprint, and should our other applications be successful, we will almost treble our current open access capacity over the next few years’, said Sutherland. ‘Our successful investment in open access through Lumo and Hull Trains has helped connect communities and drive economic growth and we aim to help spur similar effects along this route.’
