Half of rail operators publicly owned with Greater Anglia onboard
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-09)

Greater Anglia's rail services will become the third to enter public ownership on Sunday 12 October 2025.

- Greater Anglia’s services will transfer to public ownership on Sunday 12 October 2025, continuing to connect passengers to London and support economic growth across the region
- means almost 50% of rail passenger journeys that Great British Railways will ultimately be responsible for will be operated by publicly owned companies
- Greater Anglia, one of the UK’s best performing rail operators, will continue to deliver high-quality services and share its expertise across the network, boosting growth and opportunity for communities as part of the Plan for Change
Half of rail operators will be publicly owned from next week, forming the backbone of improved passenger services under Great British Railways (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/great-british-railways) (GBR), when services operated by Greater Anglia transfer on Sunday (12 October 2025).

Greater Anglia’s services will become the third to enter public ownership under the government’s Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act, marking another step towards a simpler, more unified railway under GBR.

The operator is consistently rated one of the best performing in the country, and will continue to thrive under public ownership – engaging closely with local communities, sharing best practice with other public sector operators and working towards a better railway with passengers at its heart.

This move is part of the government’s wider Plan for Change (https://www.gov.uk/missions) – delivering a railway that is more accountable, efficient, and reliable for passengers – resulting in greater opportunities for communities and significant growth.

Through a phased programme of public ownership and the creation of Great British Railways, the government is fundamentally reforming how our railways are run, putting passengers first.

Find out more about the facts and figures behind the public ownership programme (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-ownership-of-rail-services-facts-and-figures).

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said:

From this Sunday, passengers commuting into Norwich or heading for a day out in Cambridge will be travelling on services that are owned by the public and run with their interests front of mind.

We’re reforming a fragmented system and laying the foundations for a more reliable, efficient and accountable railway – one that puts passengers first and delivers the high standards they rightly expect.

With government support, Greater Anglia will continue to deliver regional growth with 2 new stations opening – Beaulieu Park this month and Cambridge South early next year – which will support the delivery of thousands of new homes, as well as schools and employment space.

Greater Anglia’s new fleet of bi-mode trains has also transformed services for passengers and provides significant scope to accommodate growth in demand across the region in future years.

The operator has built up a strong track record of running punctual services, with 93.9% of trains arriving within 3 minutes between April 2024 and March 2025.

Under public ownership, Greater Anglia, which was last week named Rail Operator of the Year at the National Transport Awards 2025, will be used as a benchmark for other operators and share best practice and drive-up standards across the network as part of the Plan for Change.

Martin Beable, Managing Director, Greater Anglia, said:

At Greater Anglia, we’re proud to be one of the highest performing UK train operators in the country, recently recognised with the Passenger Operator of the Year award for the second year running. We’ve introduced new trains on every service, enhanced accessibility across our network and welcomed more local passengers than ever before – achievements made possible by the dedication of our people.

Moving into public ownership is an exciting opportunity to build on this success. By working more closely with the wider family of publicly owned operators, we can share expertise, drive innovation and deliver even better journeys for our passengers across the Anglia region.

This transition also brings us one step closer to Great British Railways – a simpler, more unified network that puts passengers at its heart. Together, we can create a railway that drives growth, sustainability and pride for the communities we serve and right across the UK.

Ahead of the establishment of GBR, integrated leadership teams are being set up across publicly owned train operators and Network Rail routes to increase collaboration and accountability, delivering improvements for passengers and freight users.

The Anglia region will be led by Jamie Burles, who has been named Integrated Managing Director (Designate) for the Anglia region.

He will identify opportunities for track and train join up and establish a unified single Executive Leadership Team bringing together Network Rail Anglia, c2c and Greater Anglia across the Eastern region.

Nova Fairbank, Chief Executive of Norfolk Chambers of Commerce, said:

Greater Anglia are one of the UK’s best performing rail operators and we have worked in close collaboration with them for many years – successfully campaigning for new rolling stock and improvements to our local and eastern rail network.

The government’s Plan for Change will help deliver high-quality services, facilitate the sharing of expertise across the network and will boost growth and provide opportunity for our Norfolk communities.

We look forward to continuing to work with Greater Anglia, as they transition into public ownership and deliver the rail connectivity that businesses, residents and visitors alike expect and deserve across our region.

Stefan Gurney, Executive Director, Norwich BID, said:

Greater Anglia’s return to public ownership is a boost for Norwich’s connectivity and growth. Reliable, high-quality rail links underpin our ambition to attract visitors, support local talents and drive inward investment.

As Norwich BID, we know how vital accessible transport is to our city centre, better services will amplify footfall, strengthen the visitor economy and enable businesses across Norwich to thrive. It bolsters our City Manifesto goals to make Norwich more connected, accessible and sustainable, helping local businesses thrive, attracting new investment and delivering the inclusive economic growth our city centre deserves.

Greater Anglia joins c2c, Northern, TransPennine Express, Southeastern, LNER and South Western Railway, which are currently operated by DfT Operator Limited (DFTO).

West Midlands Trains services will transfer on 1 February 2026, before Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR) services follow on 31 May 2026, marking another significant step in the government’s plans to bring services into public ownership.

This means by the middle of next year, 8 in 10 passenger rail journeys that the department is responsible for will be owned by the public, for the public.

Chiltern Railways and Great Western Railways services are then expected to follow, with the Secretary of State for Transport due to make final decisions on when exactly this will happen in due course.

Passengers are already experiencing the benefits of public ownership, with Southeastern and LNER among the top 5 operators nationally in terms of lowest cancellation rates, while Transpennine Express’s cancellations score has improved by 34%. South Western Railway has also tripled the number of new trains in service since entering public ownership, offering more comfortable journeys, and passengers can now use tickets across publicly owned operators during cancellations – at no extra cost.

Greater Anglia’s transfer comes as legislation to establish Great British Railways (GBR) will be introduced this autumn, marking the next phase of government’s bold rail reforms. Great British Railways will build a simpler, more unified railway that delivers reliable, safe and more affordable journeys.

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