Top Bristol firm Burges Salmon has closed a £400m deal advising rail operator FirstGroup on its development of a new fleet of trains to run on the Great Western route.

The deal, which took a total of four years to complete, was led by company and commercial partner Nick Olley, head of the firm's highly-rated rail group.

The firm first began working on the fleet procurement in 1997, when it advised on the tender for First North Western's new trains.

The team has been doing all of FirstGroup's rail work since privatisation – the company now runs the First Great Western, First Great Eastern and First North Western franchises.

The Bristol firm has also advised on the setting up of a company to own the trains, the sale and leaseback of the fleet, maintenance agreements lasting until the franchise comes up for renewal in 2006 and the development of a depot site.

The fleet, which is made up of the first new trains to run on the line for a generation, cost a total of £80m, but the cost of the whole project brought it up to £400m.

The deal is the latest rail instruction for Burges Salmon, which alongside City firms such as Clifford Chance, Linklaters & Alliance and Nabarro Nathanson, has built a strong reputation for rail work.

As well as doing all the rail-related work for FirstGroup, the firm has been heavily involved in the Southall and Ladbroke Grove inquiries and has also been working on the recent Hatfield crash.