Key stats
- 750,000 passenger journeys a day in 2023/24
- We manage 404 stations
- Fleet of 3,700 locomotives and rail carriages operated
- 15,500 employees
We have many years of experience running all types of passenger rail: long-distance, commuter, regional and sleeper services. We operate three major UK train operating companies - Avanti West Coast (Avanti), Great Western Railway (GWR), South Western Railway (SWR) and two open access passenger rail services, Hull Trains and Lumo. We are also 'shadow operator' on the HS2programme. We operate London Trams on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), the Heathrow Express on behalf of Heathrow Airport, and in June 2024 we took over operation of the London Cable Car. First Rail also has several additional services businesses including First Rail Consultancy, Mistral Data, evo-rail and First Customer Contact.
As one of the most experienced operators in the UK, we are uniquely positioned to work with our partners to add value and improve services. Across all our operations, we are working together with industry partners and local stakeholders to provide better rail services, keep people moving and communities prospering across the country.
We are continuously lookng to improve customer experience and drive digital transformation. We continued to introduce new innovative ticketing schemes, with Avanti introducing a new customised live train app for travellers, while their low-cost flexible Superfare has seen strong demand. Both GWR and SWR have also successfully introduced smartcards and digital ticketing in parts of their networks. We have also delivered several station improvement programmes, a number including accessibility enhancements.
We have an important role in meeting the challenges of climate change and driving modal shift from car and plane to rail. We are working with our partners to reduce carbon emissions through initiatives including the introduction of electric trains to replace diesel where possible. Avanti have now begun running their new electric-only trains following a £350m investment into the new fleet, while GWR are trialling fast-charge battery trains.
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast, part of our joint venture with Trenitalia known as the West Coast Partnership, runs intercity services on the West Coast Main Line.
Serving as a vital economic artery, bringing cities and people closer together, Avanti West Coast links London to cities and towns across England, North Wales and Scotland. We're working in partnership with stakeholders, communities and customers along the route to develop and enhance rail services and help stimulate economic growth, while continuing to work hard to improve operational performance for customers.
The partnership also includes West Coast Partnership Development, which is the 'shadow operator' for HS2, preparing for a new era in high speed rail.
As part of its net-zero ambitions, Avanti delivered a £350m project to deliver a fleet of ten seven-car electric trains and 13 five-car bi-mode trains across the network. The programme to refurbish Avanti’s electric Pendolino fleet through a £117m investment programme has continued and is delivering a step change in onboard customer experience.
Avanti became the first UK train operating company to offer an additional class of travel as part of its services, Standard Premium, which gives customers a greater choice of facilities. 2.5 million Standard Premium tickets have been bought since launch in 2021, with additional routes and destinations added to the scheme in 2024.
Click here for more information about Avanti.
Great Western Railway (GWR)
GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services, carrying commuters, leisure and business customers across the Great Western rail franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, and large parts of Southern England.
Over time we have introduced new or refurbished GWR trains on every part of the network. GWR are also carrying out industry-first trials of a fast-charge battery train, which included setting a UK distance record for a battery train without charging in 2024.
GWR are committed to delivering station improvement programmes and is helping to deliver the MetroWest project in Bristol to generate more than a million new rail journeys and give 80,000 more people access to train services in the greater Bristol area, including the new Portway Park & Ride station. In 2023/24 GWR has also worked with their partners to deliver new stations in Reading and Exeter as well as several accessibility improvements, including a £1m package at Chippenham station.
Click here for more information about GWR.
South Western Railway (SWR)
The South Western Rail franchise was awarded to FirstGroup and MTR in March 2017 and we began operating the network in August that year.
As well as commuter travellers, SWR transports leisure travellers across the region, to many tourist and heritage sites, and the numerous major sporting and social events that take place along the route every year.
In 2024, SWR started a phased introduction of a new fleet of 90 Alstom Class 701 trains and will continue to introduce the trains into service over the course of the year and into the next. SWR’s Island Line fully reopened in 2023 following a £26m investment programme to re-connect the service with ferries.
SWR take pride in building local community relationships on their networks through the Community Rail Partnerships and the DfT’s Customer and Community Investment Funding. SWR were proud to achieve the milestone of 100 station adopters whereby local community groups can adopt their local railway station and contribute to its use and welfare.
SWR were the first rail company to have a long-term decarbonisation goal to be net zero by 2040 that has been verified by the Science Based Targets initiative. Their priority is to mitigate their impact on climate change by setting robust carbon targets to hit each year in line with the science-based target of 4.2% reduction per year.
Click here to learn more about SWR.
Hull Trains
Filling a vital gap in the market, Hull Trains has been connecting Hull and the Humber region with London for more than 20 years, with the number of services increasing from three a day at launch to seven currently.
In response to increasing demand, Hull Trains has added 14% more capacity since December 2022, running ten-car trains (typically a five-car service) at peak demand times, resulting in increased seat capacity utilisation, increasing from 59% in 2023 to 69% in 2024. Furthermore, Hull Trains continues to be an extremely reliable operator, with some of the lowest levels of self-cancellations in the industry and highest rates of customer satisfaction.
Building on this success, we have recently submitted an application to the ORR for a new Hull Trains London-Sheffield service, as well as an additional eighth return service on Hull Trains between London and Hull.
Hull Trains has reduced CO2 emissions by 65% compared to its previous fleet, through the introduction of a new bi-mode fleet in 2019.
Click here to learn more about Hull Trains.
Lumo
In October 2021 we launched Lumo, our open access rail service between London and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line running a fully electric fleet. In its first full year of operation, our new Lumo service carried more than 1m passengers.
Lumo is a comfortable, convenient and affordable alternative to flying. Lumo trains stop at Newcastle, Morpeth and Stevenage, helping to both improve regional connectivity and act as alternatives to Edinburgh, Newcastle and Luton airports.
Lumo offers competitive fares and value to customers and has now carried more than two and a half million customers since its launch in 2021, with 74% seat capacity utilisation.
Lumo’s service plays an important part in driving modal shift from plane to train, omitting 95% fewer carbon emissions than when people fly between the two capital cities, and 21 times fewer emissions than a petrol car.
Lumo has introduced several improvements including superfast Wi-Fi, LumoGo – a ticketing and entertainment centre, and LumoFlex - a flexible ticketing system, providing customers with better-connected and more flexible ways to travel.
Lumo continues to be an extremely reliable operator, with some of the lowest levels of self-cancellations in the industry and highest rates of customer satisfaction. Building on this success, we have submitted an application to the ORR for a new Lumo service between Rochdale and London and another to extend Lumo’s services beyond Edinburgh to Glasgow.
Click here to learn more about Lumo.
London Trams
We operate the London Trams network on behalf of Transport for London, which sees patronage of around 21m passengers per year. Passenger numbers increased by more than 10m since the tram system opened in 2000 until 2019.
London Cable Car
Since June 2024 we have operated the IFS Cloud Cable Car for Transport for London which connects the Royal Docks with the Greenwich Peninsula. The cable car opened in 2012, as the first and only urban cable car in the UK, providing a unique way of travelling across the River Thames and the opportunity to experience incredible views. Our team of colleagues not only help up to 2,500 customers per hour to travel but also offers an exciting visitor experience and special events.
evo-rail
Made by rail experts exclusively for the rail industry, evo-rail provides the world’s first fully operational rail-5G, ultra-high-speed track to train communications solution. evo-rail, part of FirstGroup’s rail division, provides always-on connectivity for the entire train journey, even through tunnels and across all landscapes. The installation of the evo-rail track-to-train superfast rail 5G technology on a section of the SWR network between Basingstoke and Earlsfield is near completion.
Mistral Data
Mistral Data, a subsidiary of First Rail, creates software and data solutions for their industry customers. Using cloud technology, various data feeds can be integrated into one place – including both overnight batch data from customer systems such as a website or an app as well as real-time information captured through on-train technology. This provides greater detail as well as a single version of what is happening on the railway, allowing for faster and more informed decisions to be made across the whole network. This in turn helps Mistral’s customers improve the overall passenger experience and performance of the railway.
First Rail Consultancy
First Rail Consultancy, part of First Rail, delivers specialist services across the public transport sector, particularly in the rail industry. Ranging from commercial, customer experience, human resources, marketing, and programme and project management to bid writing, analysis, engineering, operations, and performance and planning, First Rail Consultancy provides expert advice to its clients that covers every facet of a transport operator.