Background The railway system in Great Britain was originally built and run by private companies, until in 1947 the
Attlee government nationalised
the big four, forming
British Railways. Following a series of
changes and
attempted modernisations, in 1993 the
Major government began a programme of
privatisation of the railways. In 1994, ownership and maintenance of the infrastructure was transferred to a new company,
Railtrack, which was overseen by a government-appointed
Rail Regulator. The company was floated on the stock exchange in 1996 but the infrastructure was renationalised and transferred to
Network Rail in 2002, after Railtrack effectively went bankrupt when its performance was criticised in the wake of the 2000
Hatfield crash. Beginning in 1996, passenger services moved piecemeal to a franchise system run by privately owned
train operating companies (TOCs) such as
FirstGroup and
Arriva, with the DfT (
DfT OLR Holdings) taking control of a service in cases of poor performance or financial trouble. Several TOCs, including
Northern and
TransPennine 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.
Transport for Wales Rail and
ScotRail were also brought under public control by their devolved governments in 2021 and 2022 respectively. During 2020, in the midst of the
COVID-19 pandemic, all TOCs entered into
Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements with the UK and Scottish governments. Normal franchise mechanisms were amended, transferring almost all revenue and cost risk to the government, effectively re-nationalising those services temporarily. In September 2020, Transport Secretary
Grant Shapps axed the rail franchising system, switching to direct National Rail Contracts (NRCs) to make way for long-term reorganisation.
Williams–Shapps Plan In 2018, the
Transport Secretary for the
May government,
Chris Grayling, announced a review into the rail system, led by businessman
Keith Williams. 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. In October 2022, the Transport Secretary for the short-lived
Truss government,
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, announced that the Transport Bill (which would have set up GBR) would not go ahead in the current parliamentary session. In February 2023, the subsequent Transport Secretary for the
Sunak government,
Mark Harper, reaffirmed the government's commitment to GBR and rail changes. The
2023 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. Harper later told the
Transport Select Committee that the legislation was unlikely to reach
royal assent within the 2023–2024
parliamentary session. In May 2024, the
Public Accounts Committee reported the DfT had "achieved very little" on rail reform, and that the role of GBR remained unclear.
Establishment Class 701 train Prior to the
2024 general election, the
Labour Party revealed their plan for rail changes under the same Great British Railways name, including re-nationalising passenger services, while preserving the role of
open-access operators. Each remaining service would be renationalised by 2027 as TOC contracts expired, to avoid any cost in compensation, reunifying passenger services and infrastructure under one publicly owned entity for the first time since the
privatisation of British Rail. Freight services would remain privately owned, The first of these was introduced by Transport Secretary
Louise Haigh on 18 July 2024. In September 2024, the Government formed a shadow body to start the work of GBR in advance of its legal establishment. Its chair is Laura Shoaf, previously the managing director of
Transport for West Midlands. In November 2024 with the passing of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, the publicly owned
DfT Operator, previously the fallback operator in the franchise system, became the preferred operator.
South Western Railway (SWR) was the first nationalisation following the reorganisation, coming under public control on 25 May 2025, with some trains receiving a GBR-branded "coming soon" livery. The first SWR service after renationalisation was a
rail replacement bus due to planned engineering works. On 5 November 2025, the government introduced the Railways Bill to parliament. This bill, once it becomes law, will establish Great British Railways. ==Headquarters==