Great British Railways

Great British Railways (GBR) is a planned state-owned railway company that will oversee railways in Great Britain, most train services in England and fast services to Scotland and Wales. 
 History 
The railways of Great Britain were originally built by private companies, but after the Transport act 1947 it was nationalised and was run by British Railways until the railways become privatised, which begun in 1994 and finished in 1997. The rail infrastructure, passenger and freight services were separated at the time. 

In 2024, the Labour government of Keir Starmer announced that the railways would be re-nationalised. Passenger services will return to government ownership as their franchises expire. This began on 25 May 2025 with South Western Railway. Re-nationalised services will be run initially by DfT Operator and then be integrated into GBR when it is established.

 Branding 
GBR will use an updated version of the Double Arrow. It was originally designed in 1965 and used by British Rail and has since continued to feature as a unifying symbol on the railways since privatisation. 
In December 2025, the logo, brand and livery for GBR was unveiled by the government. All trains will use the same livery with no distinction between inter-city and commuter services. A gradual roll-out will begin from Spring 2026. 

 Constituent parts 
Companies that will be integrated into GBR
 Network Rail – the owner and manager of the railway infrastructure.  
 DfT Operator – the government-owned holding company responsible for running nationalised train operators.
 Rail Delivery Group – an industry umbrella body which brings together passenger and freight rail companies. It also oversees the National Rail brand and its enquiries service. 
 The 14 franchised train operating companies (of which 7 are owned by the DfT Operator) will also be folded into GBR. 
 Office of Rail and Road (some functions) – GBR will assume some of the functions of the ORR including management of track access to third party operators. 
Companies that will remain independent from GBR:
 ScotRail
 Transport for Wales Rail
 Open-access operators
 Locally devolved operators such as London Overground, Merseyrail and the Elizabeth Line.
 Notes 

References

Category:Rail transport in the United Kingdom