Great Western Railway (GWR) Carnival Train mask in carnival branded bag

Great Western Railway (GWR) Carnival Train mask in a branded bag with logo for the Recognising Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage ‘REACH’ GWR employee network. GWR provided free travel for diverse groups to Notting Hill Carnival on 25 August 2024 on a dedicated ‘Carnival Train’. The initiative, organised by REACH, aimed to help reduce barriers to rail travel and open opportunities to underrepresented groups who would otherwise not have been able to attend.

Great Western Railway Ltd (GWR) was a Train Operating Company (TOC) owned by FirstGroup Plc. It is one of the longest running TOCs, the company began operating after the privatisation of British Rail in February 1996 as Great Western Trains. In 1998, the company became First Great Western when FirstGroup bought out its partner’s shares then later in 2006 it rebranded to First Great Western until 2015 when the company adopted its current name of GWR Ltd, reflecting the older ‘Great Western Railway’, founded in 1833 prior to privatisation. In 2026 GWR Ltd was one of the largest Train operating Companies in Britain with more than 100 million customers a year.