• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Monday September 29 2025

Great Western Railway to be brought back into public ownership

Great Western Railway will be brought back into public ownership in 2026, the government has announced.

The news will be included in a speech by Transport Secretary and South Swindon MP Heidi Alexander at the Labour Party Conference tomorrow (Tuesday).

Writing on Facebook at the weekend, the MP confirmed: “I’m announcing the four train operating companies to be brought into public ownership next year: Great Western, GTR (including Thameslink and Southern), Chiltern and West Midlands.

“This will mean that by the middle of next year over half of all railway journeys will be done on publicly operated railways.

“We are returning the railways to the service of passengers, putting an end to the delays, cancellations and waste that have frustrated the travelling public for too long.”

Adding a little personal history, she said: “My dad was an electrical apprentice on our railway in Swindon, making sure things worked properly.

“It seems fitting that 60 years later, I will also be rewiring the railways as we rebuild a transport system fit for the future.

“It will take time, but we will sweep away decades of fragmentation and pointless bureaucracy, and deliver a Great British Railway people can be proud of and rely on.”

The news was welcomed by West of England mayor Helen Godwin, who said: “Across the country, more of the railways are being returned to the service of passengers. Here in the West, people will – like me – welcome the news from Heidi that trains are going to be run by the public, for the public.

“Since May, we have secured record transport funding for the West. That investment must make a difference that people can see and feel.

“Three-quarters of a billion pounds from government will help get our region moving and on track to catch up with other city-regions, with more trains as well as better buses, and an ambition for four trains an hour at stations across our growing suburban rail network.

“Just this week, our new regional Growth Strategy set out how important fixing transport is for our future – cutting congestion, increasing productivity, and cutting pollution.

“Bringing our trains back into public ownership, and bringing back trains between Bristol and Portishead as part of building five new stations in the coming years, will make a huge difference for passengers across the West Country.”