PLANS to overhaul Britain’s network are announced today, with South Western Railway to be the first to transfer into public ownership next year.

It comes just days after the new Passenger Railway Services Act received royal assent.

In announcing the plans, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said that the department expects services across southern England and East Anglia to come back into public control by autumn 2025.  

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said Labour has delivered on its manifesto, calling the move the “right decision at the right time” to “take the brakes off the UK economy and rebuild Britain.”

“The privateers have taken hundreds of millions of pounds from our railways and successive Conservative governments have pursued a policy of managed decline which has sold taxpayers, passengers and staff short,” he said.

“Now we are going to see the wheels and the steel put back together, an end to the failed fragmentation of our network, and a railway brought back into the public sector, where it belongs, to be run as a public service, not for private profit.”

RMT general secrtary Mick Lynch praised “a significant step forward for passengers, rail workers, and those who want to see an efficient rail system run for the public good, rather than private profit.”

“After decades of wasteful privatisation, South Western Railway, c2c and Greater Anglia returning to public ownership is the first step towards building a reliable, affordable, and integrated railway system.

“Bringing infrastructure and passenger services under one employer in public ownership, means proper investment in operations, harmonising conditions for staff, and prioritising the needs of passengers. 

“RMT will support the roll-out of Great British Railways and the tangible benefits a fully publicly owned rail system can bring.”