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Class 166 166220 is a three-car diesel multiple unit (DMU), one of the Networker Turbo Express trains built for British Rail in the early 1990s. It is now operated by Great Western Railway (GWR), and has had a particularly long career on services across southern England and the West Country.

The Class 166s were built by ABB at York Works in 1992–93. They were the express version of the Class 165 Networker Turbo, designed for longer-distance services from London Paddington. Their three-car configuration, higher-speed capability and first-class accommodation made them particularly suitable for routes where a normal commuter train was not ideal.

166220 was built as part of that original batch and entered service in the Network SouthEast era. The units were initially used principally on services from London Paddington towards Reading, Oxford, Newbury and the North Downs Line. Some workings continued much farther afield, including the Cotswold Line towards Worcester, Great Malvern and Hereford. They were marketed as Turbo Express trains, and their distinctive Network SouthEast blue, red and white livery became closely associated with them.

Following the privatisation of British Rail, 166220 passed to the Thames Trains franchise. In April 2004 Thames Trains was absorbed into the First Great Western Link operation, and the Class 166s subsequently became part of the enlarged First Great Western fleet. In 2006 the various First Great Western operations were combined into the Greater Western franchise.

This was an important period in 166220's career because it eventually moved beyond its original Thames Valley role. The Class 166 fleet became increasingly associated with Great Western's wider network, including routes around Bristol and the South West. Photographic records show 166220 working such varied routes as London–Oxford, Great Malvern–London, Reading–Gatwick, Bristol-area services and West Country workings.

The unit subsequently received First Great Western's blue livery, before later being repainted into the dark green livery introduced when the company became Great Western Railway in 2015. That change was part of GWR's attempt to evoke the historic Great Western Railway while creating a modern corporate identity.

An especially significant part of 166220's identity is its name. It carries the name “Roger Watkins – The GWR Master Train Planner.” Roger Watkins was a GWR timetable-planning expert, and the name was applied to the unit as a tribute to him. The name was already being recorded on 166220 by 2018, and it remains associated with the unit today.

The naming is particularly appropriate because timetable planning is fundamental to the operation of a railway such as the Great Western network. A train like 166220 has spent much of its life working services whose routes and schedules depend on precisely the sort of planning with which Watkins was associated.

During the 2010s and early 2020s, 166220 became a familiar sight well beyond the Thames Valley. It worked services through Bristol and South Wales, as well as routes into Somerset and Devon. It has been recorded on services to Cardiff, Portsmouth, Weymouth, Great Malvern, Barnstaple and other destinations.

166220 has worked the Exeter–Paignton route, including services continuing to Exmouth, and it has been photographed at Paignton several times. One recorded photograph shows it departing Paignton for Exmouth on 24 June 2023, while another records it at Paignton on 7 June 2023.

It has also worked the Tarka Line between Exeter and Barnstaple. Its career has therefore brought it into contact with a remarkable variety of Great Western routes, from the busy London commuter network for which the Class 166 was originally designed to the rural and coastal lines of Devon.

The unit underwent a significant refurbishment in the early 2020s. In 2024, 166220 became the final Class 165/166 to emerge from a programme of internal refurbishment carried out by Gemini Rail Services. The work included new seat coverings, repainted interior panels, a new floor and anti-corrosion work. The refurbishment was notable because the trains were already around 32 years old, yet the fleet remained sufficiently valuable to justify substantial investment.

166220's longevity is therefore quite remarkable. A train designed for the British Rail network of the early 1990s has survived through the end of Network SouthEast, railway privatisation, several franchise reorganisations, multiple changes of corporate identity and the arrival of newer generations of trains such as the Class 800/802 Intercity Express units.

By 2023–26, Class 166s had become less common on some of the longer-distance Great Western services because newer trains had taken over much of that work. Nevertheless, 166220 continued to operate. As recently as January 2026, it was recorded working a late-night Bristol Temple Meads–Exeter St Davids stopping service and subsequently being stabled overnight at Taunton.

It has also continued to appear on local services in the Bristol and Somerset area. A February 2026 timetable record, for example, shows 166220 operating a Weston-super-Mare–Severn Beach service.

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