Operations

In the early years the GWR was managed by two committees, one in Bristol and one in London. They combined as a single Board of Directors which met in offices at Paddington.

The Board was led by a chairman and supported by a secretary and other "officers". The first Goods Managers were appointed in 1850. From 1867 this position was filled by James Grierson until 1863 when he became the first General Manager. The first Locomotive Superintendent was Daniel Gooch, although from 1915 the title was changed to Chief Mechanical Engineer. In 1864 the post of Superintendent of the Line was created to oversee the running of the trains.

Passenger services

Early trains offered passengers a choice of first- or second-class carriages. In 1840 passengers were also able to be conveyed by the slow goods trains in what became third-class. The 1844 Railway Regulation Act forced the GWR to provide at least one train each day with third-class accommodation at not more than one penny per mile and a speed of at least 12 mph (19 km/h). By 1882, third-class carriages were attached to all trains except for the fastest expresses. Another parliamentary order meant that trains started to include smoking carriages from 1868.

Special "excursion" cheap-day tickets were first issued in May 1849 and season tickets in 1851. Until 1869 most revenue came from second-class passengers but the volume of third-class passengers grew to the extent that second-class facilities were withdrawn in 1912. The Cheap Trains Act 1883 resulted in the provision of workmen's trains at special low fares at certain times of the day.

Many express services were given names. At first these were just used by railwaymen but later appeared in timetables, on headboards carried on the locomotive, and on roofboards above the windows of the carriages. The late-morning Flying Dutchman express between London and Exeter was named after the winning horse of the Derby and St Ledger races in 1849. Although withdrawn at the end of 1867, the name was revived in 1869 – following a request from the Bristol and Exeter Railway – and the train ran through to Plymouth. An afternoon express was instigated on the same route in June 1879 and became known as The Zulu. A third West Country express was introduced in 1890, running to and from Penzance as The Cornishman. A new service, the Cornish Riviera Express ran non-stop between London and Plymouth from 1 July 1904, although it ran only in the summer during 1904 and 1905 before becoming a permanent feature of the timetable in 1906.

The Cheltenham Spa Express received its name in 1923. It was the first train in the world to be scheduled at over 70 mph when, in September 1932, it was speeded-up to cover the 77.25 miles (124.3 km) miles between London and Cheltenham in just 65 minutes. The train was nicknamed the "Cheltenham Flyer" and featured in one of the GWR's Books for boys of all ages.

Other named trains included The Bristolian, running between London and Bristol from 1935, and the Torbay Express, which ran between London and Kingswear. See also Named trains: UK.

Many of these fast expresses detached slip coaches as they passed through stations and junctions without stopping. The first of these was detached from the Flying Dutchman at Bridgwater in 1869. The first sleeping cars were operated between Paddington and Plymouth in 1877. On 1 October 1892 the first corridor train ran from Paddington to Birkenhead and the following year saw the first trains heated by steam that was passed through the train in a pipe from the locomotive. May 1896 saw the introduction of first-class restaurant cars and the service was extended to all classes in 1903. Sleeping cars for third-class passengers were available from 1928.

Self-propelled "steam railmotors" were first used on 12 October 1903 between Stonehouse and Chalford railway stations; within five years 100 had been constructed. They had special steps that could be used at "halts" with lower platforms. The railmotors proved so successful on many routes that they had to be supplemented by trailer cars with driving controls, the first of which entered service at the end of 1904. From the following year a number of small locomotives were fitted so that they could work with these trailers, the combined sets becoming known as "autotrains" and eventually replacing the steam rail motors. Diesel railcars were introduced in 1934. Some of these cars were fully streamlined, some had buffet counters for long-distance services, and others were purely for parcels services