The key minute 1:59am: South Western Railway is a privately-owned company 2:00am: South Western Railway is a government-owned company
Already-nationalised rail services 2018: London North Eastern Railway (formerly Virgin Trains East Coast) [defaulted] 2020: Northern Trains (formerly Arriva Rail North) [defaulted] 2021: Transport for Wales Rail (formerly KeolisAmey Wales) [pandemic] 2021: Southeastern (formerly Govia) [undeclared revenue] 2022: ScotRail (formerly Abellio ScotRail) [poor performance] 2023: TransPennine Trains (formerly First TransPennine Express) [poor service] 2023: Caledonian Sleeper (formerly Serco) [poor value for money] 2025: South Western Railway [DELIBERATELY NATIONALISED]
A very brief history of rail nationalisation 200 years ago: all railways built by private companies 1 Jan 1948: railways nationalised - birth of British Railways 1 Apr 1994 - 31 Mar 1997: railways passed to private companies 24 May 2025: start of deliberate renationalisation
Some historical nuance 1825-ish: first rail service 1914: the government takes control for wartime reasons 1923: railways return to the control of four private companies 1965: British Railways rebrands as British Rail 2020: there will be no more new rail franchises
Highly relevant legislation 6 Aug 1947: Transport Act 1947 5 Nov 1993: Railways Act 1993 28 Nov 2024: Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024
Public opinion(2024)
Do you think that railway companies should be nationalised and run in the public sector, or privatised and run by private companies? Public sector - 66%
Private sector - 12%
Don't Know - 22%
Owners of Train Operating Companies Sole owners: Arriva UK Trains, FirstGroup, Transport UK Group In partnership: East Japan Railway Company, Go-Ahead Group, Keolis, Mitsui, Serco, Trenitalia Government: DfT Operator, Scottish Rail Holdings, Transport for Wales
The ten rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOs)
Angel Trains Ltd, Beacon Rail, Caledonian Rail Leasing, Eversholt Rail Group, GE Capital, Halifax Asset Finance, Macquarie European Rail, Lombard North Central, Porterbrook Leasing Company Ltd, Rock Rail
Start of current franchise 1996: c2c, Chiltern Railways 2006: Great Western Railway 2007: CrossCountry 2014: Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink 2016: Greater Anglia 2017: South Western Railway, West Midlands Trains 2018: LNER 2019: East Midlands Railway, Avanti West Coast
Earliest possible renationalisation dates whenever: Chiltern Railways, Govia Thameslink Railway, West Midlands Trains 22 Jun 2025: Great Western Railway 18 Oct 2026: Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway 17 Oct 2027: CrossCountry
Attempted summary of franchise evolution Chiltern: 1996 Chiltern Railways (and still is) CrossCountry: 1997 Virgin CrossCountry → 2007 CrossCountry East Anglia: 1997 Anglia + 1997 Great Eastern → 2004 One (later National Express East Anglia) → 2012 Greater Anglia East Coast: 1996 GNER → 2007 National Express East Coast → 2009 nationalised → 2015 Virgin East Coast → 2018 nationalised (LNER) East Midlands: 1996 Midland Mainline → 2007 East Midlands Trains → 2019 East Midlands Railway Essex Thameside: 1996 LTS Rail → 2000 c2c (rebrand) Greater Western: 1996 Thames Trains/Wales & West/Valley Lines → 2001 Wessex Trains → 2006 First Great Western → 2015 GWR (rebrand) Northern: 1997 First North Western/Arriva Trains Northern → 2004 Northern Rail → 2016 Arriva Rail North → 2020 nationalised ScotRail: 1997 National Express → 2004 First → 2015 Abellio → 2021 nationalised South Eastern: 1996 Connex South Eastern → 2003 South Eastern Trains → 2006 Southeastern → 2021 nationalised Southern: 1996 Connex South Central → 2001 South Central → 2003 Southern → 2015 Govia South Western: 1995 South West Trains → 2007 +Island Line → 2017 South Western Railway → 2025 nationalised Thameslink & Great Northern: 1997 Thameslink/WAGN → 2004 Great Northern → 2006 First Capital Connect → 2015 Govia Thameslink TransPennine Express: 2004 TransPennine Express → 2023 nationalised Wales & Borders 1996 Wales & West/Valley Lines → 2001 Wales & Borders → 2003 Arriva Trains Wales → 2018 TfW → 2021 nationalised West Coast: 1997 Virgin Trains → 2019 Avanti West Coast West Midlands: 1997 Central Trains/Silverlink → 2007 London Midland → 2017 West Midlands Trains
