FIRSTGROUP has announced plans to expand its Lumo open-access brand on services to southwest Wales and southwest England following the acquisition of Grand Union Trains, which was confirmed on December 5.

Grand Union Trains holds track access rights for a new open-access service between Carmarthen in southwest Wales and London Paddington. FirstGroup says it has applied to British regulator the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to expand the service by securing additional paths to Paignton in southwest England.

FirstGroup says it expects to launch five daily services between Paddington and Carmarthen in December 2027, and is aiming to run five more trains on the route to Paignton. The track access contract will last for an initial 10 years.

The Paddington - Carmarthen trains will serve Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport, Cardiff Central, Gowerton and Llanelli, offering direct services for the first time between London, Severn Tunnel Junction and Gowerton.

FirstGroup says it is currently exploring rolling stock options for the new service. These are likely to be bi-mode due to the absence of electrification beyond Cardiff and beyond Bristol Parkway on the line to the southwest of England. FirstGroup says it will offer around 643 million seat-km annually in the single class service, providing passengers with free Wi-Fi and onboard catering

FirstGroup adds that following the start of the service in 2027, it expects to achieve annual revenue of around £50m after two years, with a low-digit operating margin. The new service is expected to create around 100 direct jobs.

In a separate deal, FirstGroup purchased Grand Union’s Stirling - London open-access operation in August. ORR granted rights to operate the West Coast Main Line service from June 2025 to June 2030 in March.

Lumo

Lumo was introduced in October 2021 on services from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh. It operates a fleet of five five-car class 803 EMUs built by Hitachi Rail. FirstGroup also runs the Hull Trains open-access service, which was introduced in 2000 and has used a fleet of five five-car class 802 bi-modes, also built by Hitachi, since 2019. Both services are estimated to have contributed around £1.4bn in economic benefit to communities along their respective routes since they were launched, FirstGroup says.

Great Western Railway (GWR), which is run by FirstGroup, operates mainline services from Paddington to south Wales and southwest England, and had originally opposed Grand Union’s application to secure track access rights on the grounds that ticket revenue would abstract from its own services. ORR granted the 10-year track access agreement in 2022 and Grand Union had originally hoped to introduce its new service in December 2024.

GWR is set to be brought into government control under Great British Railways (GBR). The government confirmed earlier this week that all franchise operators would be brought into public ownership in the next three years. GWR’s current contract is due to expire in June 2028.