Spanish fund Wales- to-london rail route

A SPANISH-FUNDED train operator has the green light to run services between London and Wales in a move that regulators said will improve journeys.

Grand Union, backed by Madridbased private equity firm Serena Industrial Partners, will run to south-west Wales from the end of 2024.

It will open up competition on the route out of Paddington for the first time, creating a rival to Great Western Railway. Passengers travelling between London, Bristol Parkway, Severn Tunnel Junction, Newport, Cardiff, Gowerton, Llanelli and Carmarthen will have five extra return services daily.

Stephanie Tobyn, at the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), said: “This supports more choice for passengers, new direct journey opportunities, more price competition and new comfortable trains.

“The competition should also make a contribution to innovation in terms of the routes served, ticketing practices and service quality improvements, by both Grand Union and through the response of existing operators.”

Grand Union’s entrance is the latest foreign investment in train companies. Go-ahead, which operates Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, has agreed a £650m swoop by Australian bus operator Kinetic and Spanish infrastructure investor Globalvia.

Stagecoach struck a £595m deal with German investor DWS this year, while First Group, which runs the Great Western and South Western lines, held talks with US infrastructure specialist I Squared Capital over a £1.2bn takeover.

The Grand Union bid, submitted in June, was disputed by Network Rail due to concerns about capacity on the network. However, the ORR ruled that the railway owner should enter into a contract with the Spanish operator.

Grand Union will serve as an openaccess operator rather than a franchise, meaning it will be independent of government contracts.