London Photo Gallery - Railway Nationalization

In May 2025, South Western Railway became the first company to be re-nationalized under the branding Great British Railways. The new firm will oversee all railway infrastructure. However, government officials haven't been able to promise cheaper fares as a result. In fact, they announced a regulated fare rise for early 2025. In 1992, the Queen's Speech highlighted the private sector will operate rail services. The government published a white paper that same year with proposals and progressive contracting out of passenger services. The railways were privatized under John Major's Conservative government, with South West Trains running the first service in 1996. Following state support during COVID, continued poor performance, and insufficient coordination between the operators and Network Rail which manages the infrastructure, the Labour government passed the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act in 2024 which will re-nationalize South Western Railways and 7 more companies by 2027 once their franchises end. Great British Railways will operate most passenger train companies in England going forward.