Chiltern Railways has entered public ownership after 30 years as a private company, becoming the sixth train operator renationalised under Labour’s push to bring passenger services under Great British Railways.
The government legislated in 2024 to renationalise private train operations as contracts allowed, joining four operators already in public ownership and Network Rail to establish an integrated body. Chiltern is now the 10th rail company under GBR overall. Four remaining operators are to follow, with the aim for GBR to operate all passenger services by the end of 2027. The government has said the programme will save money and improve services. Chiltern was privatised in 1996. It operates services from London Marylebone to Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Warwickshire, as well as destinations across the West Midlands. The Department for Transport said the move would bring more reliable services and end what it termed the “daily frustration” of overcrowding. Great Western Railway is scheduled to be the next operator to transfer, on 13 December.
More trains and seats promised
The government has promised 25 additional daily services from December. That means 10,000 extra seats each weekday. The DfT said the additional services under GBR would provide those seats across the Chiltern network. Half-hourly services will run on the Chiltern Main Line between London and Birmingham during weekdays, alongside more weekend trains, as new rolling stock is introduced across the network. The DfT has also promised a broader package of improvements for Chiltern passengers, including new trains, upgraded stations, and better onboard facilities. The operator said the new trains would also improve accessibility and provide better Wi-Fi on board.
From Sunday, passengers whose train has been cancelled can use another operator’s service two hours either side of their original train at no extra cost. The first day brought disruption. Chiltern warned that the line between Birmingham and Marylebone was expected to be much busier because of the late notice of the West Coast Main Line closure affecting services at London Euston. The operator said it would run more trains than usual between the stations with significantly enhanced capacity.
Minister welcomes transfer amid union dispute
Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy met staff at Marylebone Station on Thursday alongside the first Chiltern train in GBR livery. “The most difficult thing on Chiltern is that it’s shorter capacity and those extra trains and those extra seats will make a real difference to people travelling on this line up here from Marylebone every day,” he said. “Every transfer into public ownership gives us the chance to tackle the bread-and-butter issues people care about — more frequent, comfortable trains that turn up on time,” he added. He said that as the government sets up GBR, it is putting passengers first. Hendy said it would not happen overnight, but that the government would build a railway the country can trust and rely on, and that it would create growth, jobs, and homes.
Tony Baxter, Chiltern’s interim managing director, said: “Sunday is a significant milestone for Chiltern Railways and we look forward to working together with the wider rail industry to deliver a better railway for everyone in Great Britain.” He said customers would see “improvements made possible thanks to years of planning, dedication and hard work by Chiltern colleagues,” and that “public ownership will further strengthen that progress through closer collaboration across the industry.” The comments came as the operator marked its first day under state control.
The DfT said the transfer also provides a fresh opportunity to deliver East West Rail, the long-awaited services that should have started under Chiltern last year on a completed stretch of the future Oxford-Cambridge line. It remains unclear whether a start date for services between Oxford and Milton Keynes has come any closer after the transfer to the state operator. Although a variety of reasons have been given for the delay, unions oppose plans to run the trains without a guard. The RMT is due to demonstrate outside Marylebone station on Monday. Members are being balloted for strike action. The dispute is over driver-only operation backed by the DfT. The row threatens to further cloud the horizon for GBR, as the government seeks to demonstrate the benefits of the publicly owned railway.