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About us

DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) is the government’s rail owning group and delivery partner for its flagship public ownership programme.

DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) is responsible for bringing all the DfT-managed and privately-owned train operators into public ownership, ahead of the creation of Great British Railways (GBR).

Vision

Working together to deliver a better railway for everyone in Britain.

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
  • to drive a safe, sustainable and high-performing railway that delivers value for money and a consistently better experience for customers

The DFTO’s Chair’s letter sets out ministerial priorities for DFTO for the next 14 months.

The group’s current train operating companies are: 

  • c2c
  • Greater Anglia (GA)
  • GTR – operating as Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express
  • London North Eastern Railway (LNER)
  • Northern (NTL)
  • Southeastern (SE)
  • South Western Railway (SWR) 
  • TransPennine Express (TPE)
  • West Midlands Trains (WMT) – operating as both London Northwestern Railway (LNR) and West Midlands Railway (WMR)

DFTO operators deliver more than 930 million customer journeys across their networks every year. Eight in 10 passenger rail journeys that GBR will ultimately be responsible for are now delivered by publicly owned operators.

Who is DFTO

DFTO works with train operators and Network Rail to lay the foundations for Great British Railways (GBR) – working together to deliver a better railway for everyone in Britain.

Ahead of the establishment of GBR, DFTO is responsible for bringing all DfT-managed train operators into public ownership, ensuring stability, accountability and continuity for customers and taxpayers.

Our mission is to drive a safe, sustainable, high-performing railway that delivers value for money and a consistently better customer experience.

DFTO now runs over 11,000 passenger rail services every day and delivers over 930 million journeys across its networks every year.

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