What is Great British Railways?
Great British Railways (GBR) is the new public body being set up by the government to run much of the rail network in Britain. By bringing train services back under public ownership instead of having individual train operators, the aim is to improve and simplify train travel.
Great British Railways will be responsible for things like managing infrastructure, running rail services and setting fares in England, Scotland and Wales. This is similar to how British Rail operated before the railways were privatised in 1997.
When will Great British Railways start?
It’s a gradual process, with train operators moving back into government control as their current contracts expire. For some, this process already happened long before the idea of Great British Railways was announced by the Government.
Not all transitions have been announced yet, but so far, we know the following timelines:
|
Transition date |
Train operator |
|
25th May 2025 |
South Western Railway (SWR) |
|
20th July 2025 |
c2c |
|
12th October 2025 |
Greater Anglia |
There are no changes to how tickets for journeys with these train operators can be purchased once they have transitioned.
Don’t worry though, we’re here for you. Nothing is changing with us during this time, you can still buy all your UK train journeys on our website and app.
Will all train operators change to have Great British Railways branding?
Timelines and details of how this will occur are still being decided.
Where will the Great British Railways HQ be?
In 2023, Derby was announced as the home of Great British Railways. However, the exact location of the headquarters in the city has not been finalised yet.
Other locations on the shortlist included Doncaster, York, Birmingham, Crewe and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.