When will every major UK rail operator be nationalised? Full list of routes and dates for public ownership

The process to renationalise British railways is well underway. Next up to be taken under public ownership are Chiltern and Great Western Railways, with the government having revealed the dates that each operator will be nationalised. 

The last operator to be nationalised was West Midlands Trains (on February 1 2026) and next up is Govia Thameslink Railway. GTR will come into public ownership later this month on May 31. 

When Labour was elected back in 2024, one of the party’s big manifesto pledges was to renationalise Britain’s railways. Keir Starmer and co promised to bring all of England’s major railway lines back into public ownership by 2027, and we are starting to see this come into effect. At the end of last year the UK government also revealed the branding for Great British Railways.

Several of England’s train companies have already been brought into public ownership, as their private contracts with the Department for Transport expired. Going forward, all lines are on course to be nationalised by the end of 2027. 

Here’s everything we know about the renationalisation of the railways so far. 

Which train companies have already been nationalised?

Here is a list of nationalised train companies and the date they were renationalised:

• South Western Railway (SWR), May 25 2025
• c2c, July 20 2025
• Greater Anglia, October 12 2025
• West Midlands Trains (includes West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway), February 1 2026

Already in the public sector:

• LNER
• Northern
• Southeastern
• TransPennine Express
• ScotRail
• Transport for Wales Rail

When will the rest of the British rail companies be nationalised?

These are the companies that will be nationalised next, as well as the dates that have been confirmed so far (with newly confirmed dates for Chiltern Railways and Great Western Railways):

• Govia Thameslink Railway (includes Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink), May 31 2026
• Chiltern Railways, September 20 2026
• Great Western Railways, December 13 2026
• East Midlands Railway, TBC (expected late 2026)
• Avanti West Coast, TBC (expected in spring 2027)
• CrossCountry, TBC (expected autumn 2027)

Will nationalisation make train fares cheaper?

In the long term, only time will tell whether nationalised services lead to cheaper prices. In 2026, however, it’s so far been good news: train fares in England have been frozen for the first time in 30 years. 

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