Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024

Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make provision for passenger railway services to be provided by public sector companies instead of by means of franchises.
Citation	2024 c. 25
Introduced by	Louise Haigh, Secretary of State for Transport (Commons) Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, Minister of State for Rail (Lords)
Territorial extent	England and Wales Scotland
Dates
Royal assent	28 November 2024
Status: Current legislation

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which provides for the renationalisation of train operating companies within Great Britain. ^[1]

History

The Labour Party first adopted a policy of nationalisation of the train operating companies in 2016, and this policy was developed during the tenure of Andy McDonald as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport. ^[2]

Before the act was passed, London North Eastern Railway, Southeastern, Northern Trains and Transpennine Express were under the control of DfT OLR Holdings, the operator of last resort owned by the Department for Transport. ^{[3] [4]}

The Welsh Government took control of Transport for Wales in 2021. ^[5] The Scottish Government took control of ScotRail in 2019 and the Caledonian Sleeper in 2023. ^{[6] [7]}

Railway operations in Northern Ireland are fully nationalised. ^[8]

Provisions

The act allows for the transfer of Avanti West Coast, c2c, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, Govia Thameslink Railway, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, and West Midlands Trains to the operator of the Department for Transport. ^[3]

The transfer can only happen as the contract of each company expires. ^[3]

The legislation does not affect the Elizabeth Line, the London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway, which remain under "concession" contracts by the Mayor of London to private companies. ^{[9] [10]}

Implementation

In December 2024, DfT OLR Holdings was renamed DfT Operator. ^[11]

The first company nationalised under the act, in May 2025, was South Western Railway. ^[12]

Reception

At the time of the passage of the act, the Conservative Party described the legislation as "ideological". ^[2] Later, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Gareth Bacon, admitted that the Conservative Party would not reprivatise the train operators if they were to be successful at the next general election. ^[13]

References

1. Maddox, David (20 November 2024). "Railways set to come back into public ownership after Lords pass nationalisation bill". Independent. Archived from the original on 21 March 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
2. McDonald, Andy (28 November 2024). "Passenger railway services (public ownership) bill". North East Bylines. Archived from the original on 26 February 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
3. Longhorn, Danny (29 November 2024). "Public Ownership Bill receives Royal Assent". Rail Business Daily. Archived from the original on 28 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
4. Rucki, Alexandra (29 January 2020). "Northern Rail to be renationalised after 'years of misery and mayhem'". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
5. "Wales' railway services now nationalised by the Welsh Government". Nation.Cymru. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
6. "Abellio ScotRail contract to end three years early". BBC News. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
7. Bennett, Magnus (2 March 2023). "Caledonian Sleeper rail service to be nationalised". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
8. "Will Labour's plan make train tickets cheaper?". BBC News. 23 May 2025 [2024-04-25]. Archived from the original on 25 April 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
9. Lydall, Ross (6 August 2024). "Elizabeth line 'won't be seized from TfL' under Government plan to renationalise UK railways". The Standard . Archived from the original on 7 August 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
10. "Great Local Railways: Models and principles for rail devolution in England under Great British Railways" (PDF). Rail Partners. 2025. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
11. "Government reveals first three operators to be renationalised after law change". Railnews. 4 December 2024. Archived from the original on 20 March 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
12. Henley, Peter (23 May 2025). "First nationalised train will be replacement bus". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 May 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
13. Penna, Dominic (27 May 2025). "Tories won't re-privatise railways, leaked audio reveals". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 May 2025. Retrieved 27 May 2025.