Greater Anglia: Transfer of Services into Public Ownership

I can confirm to the House that yesterday, Sunday 12 October, Greater Anglia’s services became the third to successfully transfer into public ownership under the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024. Operations are now run by a new public sector operator —GA Trains Ltd—a subsidiary of public corporation DfT Operator Ltd.

This means that seven of the 14 train operators that my Department is responsible for, and which will form the backbone of passenger services under Great British Railways, are now in public ownership. West Midlands Trains services will be next to transfer on 1 February 2026, followed by Govia Thameslink Railway on 31 May 2026. The intention is for Chiltern Railways and Great Western Railway services to follow. Expiry notices will be issued to confirm the dates of transfer, once a final decision has been taken in regard to each operator.

Public ownership is putting passengers at the heart of the railway, but public ownership alone is not a silver bullet. To truly fix the structural issues that have long plagued our railways, we need systemic reform. Legislation to establish GBR will be introduced later in this session, marking the next phase of the Government’s bold rail reforms.

GBR will build a simpler, more unified railway that delivers reliable and safe journeys to passengers and value for money to the taxpayer. It will take responsibility for the day-to-day operational delivery of the railways: from delivering services to setting timetables, managing access to the network and operating, maintaining and renewing infrastructure.

Ahead of the establishment of GBR, integrated leadership teams are being set up across publicly owned train operators and Network Rail routes to increase collaboration and accountability, in turn delivering improvements for passengers and freight users. Integrated leadership creates a “system-wide” view of the railway, meaning better, faster decision making, and is another step towards GBR. Jamie Buries has been named Integrated Managing Director (Designate) for Anglia and will drive this change across the region, working closely with leaders across Greater Anglia, c2c and Network Rail Anglia.

The Government are delivering on the plan for change, with investment and reform driving growth, putting more money in people’s pockets and rebuilding Britain. Reforming our railways is central to this and will drive improved performance, bringing more people back to rail, generating greater revenue and reducing costs.

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