South Western Railway’s services will be the first to transfer into public ownership next year when the government starts nationalizing Great Britain’s railroads, officials said.
Services currently operated by South Western Railway and c2c will be the first to transfer into public ownership when their national rail contracts expire on May 25, 2025, and July 20, 2025.
The move comes just days after the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 received Royal Assent, paving the way for a major shake-up of Britain’s railways.
Proponents say the transition will improve reliability and clamp down on delays, cancellations and waste. The announcement will see services across a wide area of southern England and East Anglia come back into public control by autumn 2025.
“For too long, the British public has had to put up with rail services that simply don’t work,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said in a statement. “A complex system of private train operators has too often failed its users.
“Starting with journeys on South Western Railway, we’re switching tracks by bringing services back under public control to create a reliable rail network that puts customers first,” Alexander added. “Our broken railways are finally on the fast track to repairing and rebuilding a system that the British public can trust and be proud of again.”
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