TRAIN operator First Great Western was named Rail Business of the Year at an industry award on Thursday.

During the Rail Business Awards, which took place at London Hilton, in Park Lane, the firm, which operates services through Swindon and across Wiltshire, also scooped three other gongs.

FGW received a customer information and service accolade, an award for the best marketing campaign and the engineering excellence prize.

“I am immensely proud of the awards and the work put in by all of our dedicated staff,” Mark Hopwood, First Great Western managing director, said.

“It also recognises the innovation shown to increase capacity for our passengers and provide them with the additional services we know they want to see; as well as reward those working on the shop floor and behind the scenes.

“The recognition is an amazing achievement and our plans for the future will continue to transform this railway for the better.”

Volunteer group, the TransWilts Community Partnership, has praised First Great Western for the help they provided setting up a new service in 2013.

The improved TransWilts line, between Swindon and Westbury, celebrated its first anniversary in December with more than 100,000 people using it since launching.

Graham Ellis, from the group, said: “First Great Western has worked incredibly hard to provide a good service despite the difficulties in the rail industry. We have surpassed our targets for passenger numbers and that is thanks to the hard work of everyone involved.”

The operator’s award comes on the back of a survey earlier this month which criticised the quality of their service. Consumer group Which? carried out the research which saw the south west’s service provider receive a 47 per cent customer score.

The company also got two out of five possible stars for offering value for money.

A First Great Western spokesperson said: “Our recent National Rail Passenger Survey report, scores us at 81 per cent overall satisfaction rating. We are pleased to have been able to increase our score from last year, during a period where we have been confronted with some significant infrastructure challenges. We are keen to work with Which? to gain a better understanding of their methodology.’’

They did score three stars for availability of seating, toilet cleanliness, train conditions, reliability and punctuality.