UK: The government should target the worst performing passenger train operators rather than simply use contract expiry dates for taking operations into public ownership, according to Dominic Booth, CEO of Transport UK.
Transport UK — a management buy-out of Dutch state operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen’s former rail and bus subsidiary Abellio UK — holds contracts including Greater Anglia and West Midlands Trains. The core terms of both contracts expired on September 15 and the Secretary of State could now give notice of intention to terminate them. This means they could be the first operators to pass into public ownership following the expected passage later this year of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill, which envisages a transfer as contracts expire.
If the government instead lets the Greater Anglia and West Midlands Trains contracts run to their final end points in September 2026, then the first operators to be nationalised could be South Western Railway on May 25 2025 and c2c (Essex Thameside) on July 20 2025.
On September 15 Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh posted on X (formerly Twitter) ‘as soon as the Rail Public Ownership Bill becomes law, we’ll waste no time in bringing train operators into public ownership’.
As soon as the Rail Public Ownership Bill becomes law, we’ll waste no time in bringing train operators into public ownership 👇https://t.co/Okrt9ig4es
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) September 15, 2024
All existing operating contracts are to expire by October 2027; the final operator to reach term would be Arriva-run CrossCountry.
Nationalisation on the horizon
Transport UK also runs East Midlands Railway, while it operates the locally-awarded Merseyrail concession in partnership with Serco.
’With nationalisation on the horizon for 2027, Transport UK is keen to play a full role in supporting the government with its transition’, Booth said on September 17. ‘We agree there is an urgent need to improve standards across the UK’s rail sector and we welcome the Secretary of State’s intention to deal quickly with the problems rail passengers face.
‘We are hopeful that when the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill becomes law this autumn, the government will exercise its discretion to target areas and communities that are affected by the worst performing operators, some of which are already under remedial measures.
‘By using their discretion, rather than a timetable dictated by when contracts expire, the government will ensure the worst affected passengers receive the urgent support they need first.’
