Great Western Railway

GWR 'cut off' routes completed 1903-10
Route	Powers first taken for any part	Completed	Old Distance (miles)	New distance (miles)	Distance by rival line (miles)	New construction (miles)
London- Cardiff	1896	1903	170 via Gloucester 155 via Bath	145	none	30
London- Exeter	1883	1906	194	174	172 (LSWR)	33
London- Birmingham	1897	1910	129	111	113 (LNWR)	58

After the 1923 grouping The Western Group (Great Western Railway) consisted of the following constituent companies :-

Crest	Company Name	Code
	Alexandra (Newport & South Wales) Docks & Railway	ADR
	Barry Railway	BRY
	Cambrian Railway	Cam
	Cardiff Railway	Car
	Great Western Railway	GWR
	Rhymney Railway	Rhy
	Taff Vale Railway	TVR

The Great Western Railway was also made up of the following subsidiary companies :-

Crest	Company Name	Code
	Brecon & Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway	BM
	Bristol & Exeter Railway	B&E
	Bristol & Gloucester Railway	B&GL
	Burry Port & Gwendraeth Valley Railway	BPGV
	Carmarthenshire Railway	CR
	Cornwall Railway	Crn
	Corris Railway	Cor
	Cleobury Mortimer & Ditton Priors Light Railway	CMDP
	Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway	DNS
	Exeter Railway	Ex
	Fishguard & Rosslare Railways & Harbour Company	FRR&H
	Forest of Dean Central Railway	FOD
	Golden Valley Railway	GoVR
	Gwendraeth Valleys Railway	GV
	Lampeter, Aberayron & New Quay Light Railway	LANQ
	Liskeard & Caradon Railway	LC
	Liskeard & Looe Railway	L&L
	Llanelli & Mynydd Mawr Railway	L&MM
	Mawddwy Light Railway (Cambrian)	Mawd
	Midland & South Western Junction Railway	MSW
	Neath & Brecon Railway	N&B
	Penarth Extension Railway (TVR)	PE
	Penarth Harbour, Dock & Railway (TVR)	PHD
	Pontypridd, Caerphilly & Newport Railway	PC&N
	Port Talbot Railway & Docks	PT&D
	Princetown Railway	PtR
	Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway	RSB
	Ross & Monmouth Railway	R&M
	South Wales Mineral Railway	SWM
	Teign Valley Railway	TeV
	Vale of Glamorgan Railway	VOG
	Van Light Railway (Cambrian)	Van
	Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway	W&L
	West Somerset Railway	WSR
	Wrexham & Ellesmere Railway	W&E

Connecting the various companies together was the infrastructure, namely the branches and lines serving all areas of the country. The following link contains the full listing of GWR line & branch names at 1966.