South Western Railway will be the first private passenger operator to be renationalised under the new Passenger Railway Services Act, the Government has confirmed.

The former franchise, which is currently a National Rail Contract, was to have expired on 28 May 2023 but was extended by a Notice of Variation to 25 May 2025 and will end then.

South Western Railway is owned by FirstGroup (70 per cent) and MTR (30 per cent). SWR took over from Stagecoach’s South West Trains on 20 August 2017.

The next in the queue will be Trenitalia’s c2c, where the contract ends on 20 July 2025, followed by Greater Anglia in the autumn of 2025, although no exact date has been quoted.

Greater Anglia’s National Rail Contract, owned by UK Transport Group (60 per cent) and Mitsui (40 per cent), had not been due to expire until 20 September 2026.

Chiltern Railways and Govia Thameslink Railway both have earlier break points, with core expiry dates of 1 April 2025, but they have not yet been listed for renationalisation.

The DfT told Railnews: ‘Once a core expiry date has passed, the transport secretary can end a contract by giving the operator twelve weeks’ notice. Greater Anglia’s core expiry date was 15 September 2024. We need to remain flexible about the dates when contracts actually end, so that we can manage the transition to public ownership smoothly.’

The DfT is also changing the way renationalisation is being described. DfT Operator of Last Resort Holdings Limited, previously known as DOHL, has become DfT Operator Limited, and its functions will eventually be part of Great British Railways.

The DfT said its renamed Operator ‘will continue to focus on transforming Britain’s railways into a more reliable, affordable, and accessible system’.

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, which makes public ownership the default option rather than the last resort, received Royal Assent on 28 November, only a few hours before transport secretary Louise Haigh resigned after it came to light that she had received a conditional discharge for fraud in 2014 in connection with a mobile phone, which she had wrongly said was stolen. She said it had been a mistake on her part, and she regretted following legal advice not to comment when she was interviewed by police.

Her successor at the DfT is Heidi Alexander, who is now responsible for continuing the Government’s railway renationalisation programme.

She said: ‘For too long, the British public have had to put up with rail services which simply don’t work. A complex system of private train operators has too often failed its users.

‘Starting with journeys on South Western Railway, we’re switching tracks by bringing services back under public control to create a reliable rail network that puts customers first.

‘Our broken railways are finally on the fast track to repair and rebuilding a system that the British public can trust and be proud of again.’

The DfT quoted Railway Industry Association chief executive Darren Caplan as saying: ‘Today’s announcement is an important milestone on the journey to a restructured railway. The UK supply chain will work with and support the Government’s plans to deliver improved rail performance and reliability, as we together develop world class rail, both track and train. There is now a real opportunity to provide more certainty and visibility over work plans, which will help a reformed railway be a catalyst for boosting growth and connectivity.’

However, the group Rail Partners, which has been campaigning on behalf of the private sector operators, remains doubtful.

Rail Partners’ chief executive Andy Bagnall said: ‘Publishing the timeline for bringing SWR, c2c and Greater Anglia into public ownership is a watershed moment that means the Government is now taking charge of fixing the railways, but has parked the big decisions about how to do that until next year.

‘Simply changing who runs the trains won’t deliver more reliable and affordable services for passengers, reduce subsidy for taxpayers, or grow rail freight.

‘The key to both improving performance and holding down fares is restoring the railway to financial sustainability. It is counter-intuitive to start removing private sector operators from the system, with their track record of delivering growth to reduce subsidy, when the question of what will replace them long-term won’t be answered until further rail legislation is introduced.’