Modern thinking is that too many franchises were created by the Conservatives under the rail privatisation process of the mid-'nineties. Mergers (or in old GWR parlance 'absorptions') are now the order of the day and the next one sees the grouping of the Great Western, Great Western Link and Wessex franchises into one big operator called Greater Western. Its creation will reduce the number of franchises in the UK from the 25 of 1997 to 17, and the total is set to fall even further by the end of the decade. There are three contenders for the new franchise; all well-known in the bus and train industry. They are: 1. First Group; the incumbent, which holds the ScotRail and TransPennine franchises and is a contender for the Integrated Kent franchise. 2. Stagecoach; which holds the South West Trains franchise and also has a 49 per cent stake in Virgin Rail. 3. National Express; currently the holder of Wessex and seven other rail franchises.
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机译：现代思想认为，在九十年代中期的铁路私有化过程中，保守党创造了太多的特许经营权。合并（或用旧的GWR术语“吸收”来表示）已经成为日常工作，而下一个合并则将Great Western，Great Western Link和Wessex特许经营权分组为一个大运营商，称为Greater Western。它的创建将使英国的专营权数量从1997年的25家减少到17家，并且总数到该十年末将进一步下降。新特许经营权共有三个竞争者；在公交和火车行业都众所周知。他们是：1.第一组；现任公司拥有ScotRail和TransPennine专营权，并且是Integrated Kent专营权的竞争者。 2.驿马车；该公司拥有西南火车专营权，还拥有维珍铁路公司49％的股份。 3.全国快递；目前是威塞克斯和其他七个铁路特许经营权的持有人。
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