Great British Railways
| Company type | Government-owned company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Train services and infrastructure management |
| Predecessor | Network Rail Passenger train companies Rail Delivery Group DfT Operator |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Great Britain |
| Products | Public Transport |
| Owner | British Government |
Great British Railways (GBR) is a planned state-owned railway company that will oversee railways in Great Britain, most train services in England and fast services to Scotland and Wales.
It will take most rail functions of the Department for Transport and Rail Delivery Group, including services and setting fares. In addition, it will absorb Network Rail to become the operator of most rail infrastructure across Great Britain.[1][a] The powers of the UK's devolved administrations will not be affected.[1]
History
The railways of Great Britain were originally built by private companies, but after the Transport act 1947 it was nationalised and was run by British Railways until the railways become privatised, which begun in 1994 and finished in 1997. The rail infrastructure, passenger and freight services were separated at the time.
In 2024, the Labour government of Keir Starmer announced that the railways would be re-nationalised. Passenger services will return to government ownership as their franchises expire. This began on 25 May 2025 with South Western Railway. Re-nationalised services will be run initially by DfT Operator and then be integrated into GBR when it is established.[2][3]
Constituent parts
The following entities will be integrated into GBR:
- Network Rail
- DfT Operator
- Rail Delivery Group (National Rail)
- Office of Rail and Road (some functions)
Notes
- ↑ It will not take ownership of the Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes which was given to Transport for Wales in 2020
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Great British Railways: Williams-Shapps plan for rail". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ↑ "Labour pledges to renationalise most rail services within five years". BBC News. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ↑ "South Western Railway: passengers first renationalisation train". BBC News. 2025-05-25. Retrieved 2025-06-13.