About us

DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) is the government’s public sector rail owning group. DFTO's purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027.


Responsibilities 

DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) is responsible for:

  • unifying train operators under common ownership – DFTO was given this mandate after the Royal Assent of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill 2024
  • delivering high-performing, safe and reliable services for passengers and best value for taxpayers, through closer integration with Network Rail and partners

The group’s current train operating companies are: 

  • London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
  • Northern 
  • Southeastern 
  • TransPennine Express (TPE)
  • South Western Railway (SWR) 
  • c2c

DFTO runs over 6,500 services each weekday and delivers nearly 500 million customer journeys across its networks every year. This accounts for 28% of total UK passenger journeys and 32% of passenger miles. 

Who DFTO is

DFTO has over 24,000 employees. DFTO’s operators have welcomed over 2000 people to the railway family in the last year and have delivered 1300 apprenticeships, bringing in people from every background.

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