 Great British Railways 'coming soon' branding | |
| Company type | State-owned enterprise |
|---|---|
| Industry | Railway transport,infrastructure and asset management |
| Predecessor |
|
| Headquarters | , England |
Area served | Great Britain |
Key people | Laura Shoaf – Chair of Shadow Great British Railways |
| Products | Public transport |
| Owner | |
Great British Railways (GBR) is a plannedstate-owned railway company that will operate most rail infrastructure in Great Britain, most passenger rail services in England, and some passenger rail services in Scotland and Wales.
It will be established with the passing of the forthcoming Railways Bill, as part of theStarmer government's plans tore-nationalise the railways. It will absorb the functions ofNetwork Rail to own and manage mostrailway infrastructure (stations, track and signalling), theRail Delivery Group, theDfT Operator, parts of theDepartment for Transport (DfT), and each of thepassenger service franchises, as their contracts expire.
In 2024, the Secretary of State for Transport,Louise Haigh, set up a Shadow Great British Railways to prepare for the organisation's formal establishment. The chair of the shadow body is Laura Shoaf.
The Railways Bill, legislation to create Great British Railways, was introduced to Parliament in November 2025.
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Funding of GBR will follow the pattern established forNetwork Rail, with funding and deliverables determined every five years. For England and Wales, the Secretary of State (in consultation with Welsh Government ministers) will issue a high-level specification and a statement of funds available, and GBR will respond with a five-year business plan. This process will be mirrored in Scotland, where the Scottish Government commissionsScotRail andCaledonian Sleeper services and funds rail infrastructure.[1]
Prior to GBR, theOffice of Rail and Road (ORR) controlled Network Rail's funding and held that body to account for its performance. Proposals by the UK Government in February 2025 envisage reducing ORR's role to assessing GBR's business plans, monitoring major changes during the five-year cycle, and responding to appeals against GBR's decisions. The role of ORR in approving train operators' access to the network, and selling access rights, would be transferred to GBR.[1]
GBR will be responsible for the operational delivery of the railways in the existing areas ofNetwork Rail, i.e. England, Scotland and Wales. This will include passenger services; planning timetables; operation and maintenance ofrolling stock; setting fares; and managing access to the network, including setting charges for existing and futureopen access operators. Also excluded areTransport for London,Merseyrail, ScotRail,Transport for Wales Rail, light rail and tram services.[1]
At the same time, GBR will assume the existing responsibilities of Network Rail, to become the owner and manager of most railway infrastructure, including track and stations, acrossGreat Britain.
TheRail Delivery Group and some functions of theDepartment for Transport (DfT) will also be integrated into the new organisation, which will be run as anarms-length body led by industry experts.[1]
The railway system in Great Britain was originally built and run by private companies, until in 1947 theAttlee government nationalisedthe big four, formingBritish Railways. Following a series ofchanges andattempted modernisations, in 1993 theMajor government began a programme ofprivatisation of the railways. In 1994, ownership and maintenance of the infrastructure was transferred to a new company,Railtrack, which was overseen by a government-appointedRail Regulator. The company was floated on the stock exchange in 1996 but the infrastructure was renationalised and transferred toNetwork Rail in 2002, after Railtrack effectively went bankrupt when its performance was criticised in the wake of the 2000Hatfield crash.[2][3]
Beginning in 1996, passenger services moved piecemeal to a franchise system run by privately ownedtrain operating companies (TOCs) such asFirstGroup andArriva, with the DfT (DfT OLR Holdings) taking control of a service in cases of poor performance or financial trouble. Several TOCs, includingNorthern andTransPennine Express, were already under public control in this way prior to the announcement of the intention to form GBR, although this was intended to be temporary.[4][5]Transport for Wales Rail andScotRail were also brought under public control by their devolved governments in 2021 and 2022 respectively.[6][7]
During 2020, in the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemic, all TOCs entered intoEmergency Recovery Measures Agreements with the UK and Scottish governments.[8] Normal franchise mechanisms were amended, transferring almost all revenue and cost risk to the government, effectively re-nationalising those services temporarily.[9][10] In September 2020, Transport SecretaryGrant Shapps axed the rail franchising system, switching to direct National Rail Contracts (NRCs) to make way for long-term reorganisation.[11]
In 2018, theTransport Secretary for theMay government,Chris Grayling, announced a review into the rail system, led by businessmanKeith Williams.[12] Published in 2021, the Williams–Shapps Rail Review recommended the formation of a new publicly owned Great British Railways organisation. The proposals included the introduction of a concession model where Passenger Service Contracts (PSCs) would be awarded to privately owned operators, while GBR would control fares and timetabling.[13]
In October 2022, the Transport Secretary for the short-livedTruss government,Anne-Marie Trevelyan, announced that the Transport Bill (which would have set up GBR) would not go ahead in the current parliamentary session.[14][15] In February 2023, the subsequent Transport Secretary for theSunak government,Mark Harper, reaffirmed the government's commitment to GBR and rail changes.[16] The2023 King's speech announced the progression of a draft Rail Reform Bill which would enable the establishment of GBR, although it was not timetabled in the parliamentary programme.[17] Harper later told theTransport Select Committee that the legislation was unlikely to reachroyal assent within the 2023–2024parliamentary session.[18]
In May 2024, thePublic Accounts Committee reported the DfT had "achieved very little" on rail reform, and that the role of GBR remained unclear.[19]
Prior to the2024 general election, theLabour Party revealed their plan for rail changes under the same Great British Railways name, including re-nationalising passenger services, while preserving the role ofopen-access operators.[20] Each remaining service would be renationalised by 2027 as TOC contracts expired, to avoid any cost in compensation,[21] reunifying passenger services and infrastructure under one publicly owned entity for the first time since theprivatisation of British Rail. Freight services would remain privately owned,[21] and therolling stock (the trains themselves) would remain privately owned byROSCOs, citing the high cost of nationalisation.[21]
Following its election victory in 2024, theStarmer government announced that GBR would be established by two bills in the firstparliamentary session: the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, to renationalise rail franchises as their contracts expire, and the Railways Bill, to establish GBR to oversee the passenger and freight rail network.[22][23] The first of these was introduced by Transport SecretaryLouise Haigh on 18 July 2024.[24] In September 2024, the Government formed a shadow body to start the work of GBR in advance of its legal establishment.[25][26][27] Its chair is Laura Shoaf,[28] previously the managing director ofTransport for West Midlands.
In November 2024 with the passing of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, the publicly ownedDfT Operator, previously the fallback operator in the franchise system, became the preferred operator.[29]South Western Railway (SWR) was the first planned nationalisation, coming under public control on 25 May 2025, with some trains receiving a GBR-branded "coming soon" livery.[30] The first SWR service after renationalisation was arail replacement bus due to planned engineering works.[30]
On 5 November 2025, the government introduced the Railways Bill to parliament. This bill, once it becomes law, will establish Great British Railways.[31]
The government promised to base the organisation outside London to promote economic growth and skills in a region outside the capital.[32] In February 2022, the DfT launched a public consultation for the location of GBR's headquarters.[33] In total, 42 towns and cities submitted expressions of interest.[34]
A shortlist comprisingBirmingham,Crewe,Derby,Doncaster,Newcastle upon Tyne, andYork was announced in July 2022,[35] using the following criteria: alignment with "levelling up" objectives; connected and easy to get to; opportunities for GBR; railway heritage and links to the network; value for money; and public support.[35] A public vote was held following the announcement.[35]
In March 2023, then Transport SecretaryMark Harper announced Derby as the headquarters location.[36][37]
The 2021 Williams-Shapps plan recommended that GBR should use modified forms of British Rail's Double Arrow symbol and Rail Alphabet typeface –Rail Symbol 2 andRail Alphabet 2 respectively – for its branding, to achieve a single, unifying brand for railways. It proposed that this would be a gradual rebranding over time. English regions, Scotland, and Wales would have their own variants, but these would still emphasise the national nature of GBR. The white paper did not specify whether the branding of devolved railways such as London Overground and Merseyrail would be affected.[38]
Headquarters: Great Minster House, 33Horseferry Road,London | |
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