Greater Anglia to come under public ownership in the coming days
Half of rail operators will have been nationalised in the coming days as Greater Anglia comes under public ownership.
The operator, which serves the East of England, will be transferred to the Department for Transport (DfT) on Sunday.
With it in the fold, seven of 14 train operators have been nationalised.
The first service under public ownership will be the 4.10am Stansted Express from London Liverpool Street.
Heidi Alexander, Transport Secretary, 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.”
The Government has been staggering nationalisation of the UK’s rail line, with others under public ownership including c2c, Northern, TransPennine Express, Southeastern, LNER and South Western Railway.
West Midlands Trains services will transfer on February 1 followed by Govia Thameslink Railway on May 31.
The Government has set up the state-owned firm Great British Railways (GBR) to manage the nationalised services.
Martin Beable, managing director of Greater Anglia, said public ownership was an exciting opportunity to capitalise on its status as one of the UK’s best performing operators.
“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,” he added.
Before GBR begins operations, leadership teams have been set up to ‘increase collaboration, accountability and deliver improvements’, the DfT said.
The Anglia region will be led by Jamie Burles.
The East of England will contain a single executive, which brings together c2c, Network Rail Anglia and Greater Anglia.