SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY RENATIONALISED TODAY

South Western Railway has been renationalised today, making it the first train company to transfer to public ownership under Labour. The first nationalised service, from Woking to Surbiton, departed on time at 05:36.

The government has described the move as a “new dawn for rail” but has resisted promising lower fares, focusing more on plans to improve services and use profits to reinvest in infrastructure.

Unions have expressed concerns over outsourcing staffing for security, cleaning and other areas to private companies, while the opposition Conservatives said Labour must “deliver on their promises”.

SWR trains are now the responsibility of the Department for Transport and will be integrated into Great British Railways (GBR), which will oversee all railway infrastructure.

GBR will not officially exist until MPs vote to create it later in the year.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander described the nationalisation of SWR as a “real watershed moment”.

Asked whether prices would go down for passengers, she told the BBC she could not promise lower fares, but assured passengers they would get “great value for money”.

Boarding the 6.14am service from London Waterloo to Shepperton in Surrey, Ms Alexander said: ‘Today marks a new dawn for our railways.

‘That’s why I was so adamant I had to be here at Waterloo this morning, alongside all these other excited passengers and rail aficionados, for what really is a watershed moment.”

The first SWR service under public ownership was a rail replacement bus.

Passengers travelling on the 05.36 service from Woking to London Waterloo had to change to a bus at Surbiton because of engineering work.

The service features the new GBR livery. The words “Great British Railways” and “coming soon” are painted in white against a royal blue background decorated with part of a union flag.

Two more rail firms, C2C and Greater Anglia, will be brought into public ownership later this year.

Four major operators have already been brought under public ownership under previous Conservative governments – London North Eastern Railway (LNER), South Eastern, Trans Pennine Express and Northern.

Seven more companies will be renationalised by 2027 as each of their contracts end – or sooner if their performance is judged to be unacceptable.

These are:

Current government plans are to renationalise nearly all passenger rail services across England, Wales and Scotland by 2030.