South western railway services return to public ownership

History was made on Sunday (May 25) as the first train services to return to public control set off, marking a first step towards the end of the privatisation of the nation’s railways. South

Western Railway services became the first to return to public ownership thanks to new legislation which aims to re-centralise Britain’s trains under one nationally-owned body. Named ‘Great

British Railways’, the shakeup seeks to vastly improve the service passengers receive day-to-day, increasing reliability while reducing the frequency of delays and cancellations.

Today's monumental step with SWR begins the move away from 14 siloed train operators, each of which have their own staff, competing commercial motivations and incentives. This comes

thanks to the passing of the Public Ownership Act in November 2024 which moves the provision of passenger railway services to the public sector and away from franchises. All passenger

services operating under contracts with the Department for Transport will return to public ownership by the end of 2027 and will eventually be integrated into Great British Railways, with

services to be transferred after contracts reach the end of their minimum term or, where possible, are ended early. It is estimated that the change will save taxpayers up to £150 million a

year in fees alone. Speaking from South Western Railway’s depot in Bournemouth, 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.” In honour of the historic moment, the Secretary of State also

unveiled a new ‘coming soon’ logo on what was the first publicly-owned South Western Railway service to leave Waterloo this morning at 6.14am. Digital screens around Waterloo and at other

SWR stations are today also showing the new ‘coming soon’ logo and a Tannoy announcement celebrating the first publicly-owned services departing is being broadcast. 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.” Ben Plowden, chief executive of Campaign for

Better Transport, added: “Today marks a turning point for Britain’s railways and it’s good to see the Government’s plans for reforming the railways continuing at pace. "The creation of

Great British Railways presents a once in a generation opportunity to change how the rail system works – structurally, financially and operationally – and put passengers and freight

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