Table of contents

Approximate read time: 4 minutes

1. Public ownership

The Labour Party’s 2024 general election manifesto included a commitment to reform the railways and bring them into public ownership.[1] It said this would be done when franchise contracts with existing operators expired or were broken so that taxpayers would not have to pay compensation to contract holders.  

The first piece of legislation to implement these commitments has already been passed. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 received royal assent in November 2024. It removed the presumption in favour of private sector operation of franchised passenger services; the government can now bring such train operations back into public ownership when existing franchise contracts end. 

Two services have so far been transferred to public ownership: South Western Railways and c2c.[2] Greater Anglia’s services will be transferred in October 2025, and West Midlands Trains’ services will be transferred on 1 February 2026. 

2. Railways bill and the creation of Great British Railways

The government also announced in the King’s Speech in July 2024 that it intended to introduce a railways bill to bring management of the network and the delivery of passenger services together into a single public body called Great British Railways (GBR).[3] The government argued that a “unified and simplified rail system that relentlessly focuses on improving services for passengers” would deliver “better value for money for taxpayers” and end “years of fragmentation and waste”. In a written statement in February 2025 the government said that “most passengers will travel on GBR trains, running on GBR tracks, and arrive at GBR stations—all delivered by a single organisation in line with the clear strategic direction set by government”.[4] 

GBR will also provide for freight customers. In its manifesto, the Labour Party said it would impose a duty on GBR to enable the growth of rail freight alongside passenger services, “setting clear and meaningful targets for rail freight growth within pre-defined periods”.[5] 

In a consultation published in February 2025, the government said the bill would contain the following measures:[6] 

  • enabling the secretary of state to set GBR’s strategic direction while ensuring its operational independence 
  • defining the role of the board and the secretary of state in holding GBR to account  
  • streamlining the role of the Office of Rail and Road so it is focused on safety and efficiency 
  • creating a new passenger watchdog 
  • introducing a statutory duty for GBR to promote rail freight  
  • ensuring that GBR can deliver the priorities of and be accountable to the governments of Scotland and Wales 
  • creating a statutory role for the devolved governments and mayoral strategic authorities to work with GBR  
  • giving GBR authority to manage access to the network in the public interest  
  • implementing a new funding process 
  • ensuring non-GBR operators continue to have fair access to the network 

The railways bill has not yet been introduced, but in September 2024 the government set up Shadow Great British Railways to begin preparations for the transition.[7]

The previous, Conservative government had also proposed the creation of a body called Great British Railways. This was recommended by the government-commissioned review ‘Great British Railways: The Williams-Shapps plan for rail’, published in 2021. The report set out plans for the establishment and role of GBR, which would own the infrastructure, receive the fare revenue, run and plan the network and set most fares and timetables. GBR would absorb Network Rail, which currently owns the railway infrastructure. The review did not include, however, plans for GBR to operate the trains directly. 

While the previous government said it intended to introduce legislation to establish GBR, this was not introduced before Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2024 general election.[8] 

3. Open access 

‘Open access’ in the rail market in Great Britain allows independent train operators to run services on the national rail network.[9] These open access operators account for a small proportion of passenger train services; most passenger train services are currently provided by franchised operators that hold contracts with the government to run services or operators that have recently been taken into public ownership. 

The government has said there will continue to be a place for open access operators where the benefits are not outweighed by costs to taxpayers or impacts on network performance.[10] In the background briefing notes accompanying the 2024 King’s Speech, the government said open access had “a proven track record in driving competition and better passenger outcomes”.

Cover image by Sam on Unsplash.

References

  1. Labour Party, ‘Labour Party manifesto 2024’, June 2024, p 33. Return to text
  2. Department for Transport and DfT Operator Limited, ‘Great British Railways and the public ownership programme’, 25 May 2025. Return to text
  3. Prime Minister’s Office, ‘King’s Speech 2024: Background briefing notes’, 17 July 2024, pp 30–1. Return to text
  4. House of Commons, ‘Written statement: Rail reform (HCWS466)’, 24 February 2025. Return to text
  5. Labour Party, ‘Getting Britain moving: Labour’s plan to fix Britain’s railways’, 25 April 2024, p 19. Return to text
  6. Department for Transport, ‘A railway fit for Britain’s future’, 18 February 2025, CP 1269, pp 10–11. Return to text
  7. As above, p 6. Return to text
  8. House of Commons Transport Committee, ‘Oral evidence: Great British Railways’, 30 March 2022, HC 1076 of session 2021–22, Q2. Return to text
  9. Office of Rail and Road, ‘Monitoring open access: 2024 update’, 31 July 2024, p 6. Return to text
  10. Department for Transport, ‘New rail watchdog to give passengers a voice and hold railway to account’, 18 February 2025. Return to text