BRITAIN’s Department for Transport (DfT) announced on November 29 that it will exercise an option to extend FirstGroup’s current Great Western Railway (GWR) franchise by one year, to April 1 2020, and negotiate a direct award for the GWR franchise for two years to April 2022, with an option for a two-year extension. The DfT also launched a public consultation on the future of the GWR franchise, including proposals to split it into two separate units.