Renationalising all of the UK’s rail operators is among the key policies launched by Prime Minister Keir Starmer since his party’s return to government last July following 14 years in opposition
Britain’s South Western Railways on Sunday becomes the first private train operator to be returned to public ownership under the Labour government’s plans to renationalise the country’s much-maligned railways.
Renationalising all of the UK’s rail operators is among the key policies launched by Prime Minister Keir Starmer since his party’s return to government last July following 14 years in opposition.
“Today is a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in a statement.
Train passengers in Britain suffer from frequent cancelations, in addition to high ticket prices and regular confusion over which services they can be used on. The privatisation of rail operations took place in the mid-1990s under the then Conservative prime minister John Major, but the rail network remained public, run by Network Rail.
Four of the 14 operators in England are already run by the state owing to poor performance in recent years, but this was originally meant to be a temporary fix before a return to the private sector. Labour triumphed over the Conservative party in elections last year, re-entering Downing Street with promises to fix the country’s ailing transport services.
Legislation was approved in November to bring rail operators into public ownership when the private companies’ contracts expire — or sooner in the event of poor management — and be managed by “Great British Railways.”
Alexander said this will end “30 years of fragmentation,” but she warned that “change isn’t going to happen overnight.”
“We’ve always been clear that public ownership isn’t a silver bullet, but we are really firing this starting gun in that race for a truly 21st-century railway, and that does mean refocusing away from private profit and toward the public good,” she added.
In an example of how passengers might not immediately notice much difference, South Western’s first service under public ownership on Sunday was set to be a rail replacement bus. Government figures show that the equivalent of four percent of train services in Britain were canceled in the year to April 26. Rail unions — which have staged a stream of strikes in recent years over pay and conditions due to a cost-of-living crisis — welcomed the state takeover.
“We’re delighted that Britain’s railways are being brought back where they belong — into the public sector,” said Mick Whelan, general secretary of union Aslef. “Everyone in the rail industry knows that privatisation… didn’t, and doesn’t, work,” he added. Two operators serving towns and cities in southeastern and eastern England are next to be brought back into public ownership by late 2025. All the current contracts are set to expire by 2027.
The government has said renationalisation will save up to £150 million ($203 million) per year because it will no longer have to pay compensation fees to rail operators. The main rail operators in Scotland and Wales, where transport policy is handled by the devolved administrations in Edinburgh and Cardiff, are also state-owned.
By bringing track and train together, Great British Railways will enable operations to run more seamlessly, bringing accountability and reliability back into the railways and, in turn, helping to reduce delays and cancellations. This will get more people using our trains to travel to work, education and for leisure – boosting both the national and regional economies as part of the government’s Plan for Change.
Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, said, “Today is a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers. Trains from Waterloo to Weymouth, Bournemouth and Exeter will be run by the public, for the public. But I know that most users of the railway don’t spend much time thinking about who runs the trains – they just want them to work. That’s why operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways. We have a generational opportunity to restore national pride in our railways and I will not waste it.”
This follows the passing of the Public Ownership Act in November – one of the first major pieces of legislation to be delivered under the current government – showing its commitment to putting an end to unreliable services and private profiteering at the expense of passengers.
All passenger services operating under contracts with the department will return to public ownership by the end of 2027 and will eventually be integrated into Great British Railways. Services are being transferred after contracts reach the end of their minimum term, or where they can be ended early, ensuring taxpayers pay no additional costs for breaking contracts.
Lawrence Bowman, Managing Director of Southern Western Railway, said, “I’m excited to join and lead the excellent team at South Western Railway, who come to work every day to deliver the best possible service for our customers and moving into public ownership will make it easier for them to do so. My immediate priority is to work with colleagues to develop a plan for SWR, that will make the most of the new, simpler industry processes to deliver improvements in reliability and an increase in capacity. Over the coming years, I will focus on ensuring SWR moves into Great British Railways as a truly integrated industry-leading operation that delivers an excellent service to its passengers and the local communities we serve.”
