Public ownership of rail services: facts and figures
Published 10 October 2025
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2025
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Context on the programme to transfer rail passenger services delivered under contracts with the Department for Transport (DfT) into public ownership.
Definitions used in relation to the public ownership programme
DfT Operator Limited
DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) is the government’s public sector rail owning group. DFTO’s purpose is to bring currently privately-owned train operations into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways.
Passenger journeys in Great Britain
Passenger journeys in Great Britain are defined as the total number of rail journeys made across all passenger train operating companies in Great Britain, as reported by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
Data source: ORR Data Portal – table 1223 – passenger journeys by operator.
Publicly owned companies or public sector operators
Publicly owned refers to any rail operations (whether companies, services, or journeys) owned and managed by DfT Operator Limited. These are considered part of the public sector. Unless specified, these exclude operations managed by Transport Scotland and Transport for Wales.
Train operating companies in scope for integration into Great British Railways
Train operating companies (TOCs) in scope for integration into Great British Railways (GBR) include the 14 passenger TOCs for which the Department for Transport (DfT) is responsible. This excludes services run by open access operators, devolved governments or local authorities.
Train operating companies not owned or operated under contract by DfT
TOCs not owned or operated under contract by DfT include operators contracted by devolved governments or local authorities (for example, Transport for London, ScotRail and Transport for Wales) and open access operators. These companies are outside the scope for integration into GBR.
Data on the ownership of train operating companies
Table 1: passenger train operating companies in Great Britain
| Train operating company | Status | DfT rail passenger contract |
|---|---|---|
| Avanti West Coast | Private sector operator | Yes |
| c2c | Public sector operator | Yes |
| Chiltern Railways | Private sector operator | Yes |
| CrossCountry | Private sector operator | Yes |
| East Midlands Railway | Private sector operator | Yes |
| Govia Thameslink Railway | Private sector operator | Yes |
| Great Western Railway | Private sector operator | Yes |
| Greater Anglia | Private sector operator | Yes |
| London North Eastern Railway | Public sector operator | Yes |
| Northern Trains | Public sector operator | Yes |
| South Western Railway | Public sector operator | Yes |
| Southeastern | Public sector operator | Yes |
| TransPennine Express | Public sector operator | Yes |
| West Midlands Trains | Private sector operator | Yes |
| Elizabeth Line | Private sector operator | No |
| London Overground | Private sector operator | No |
| Merseyrail | Private sector operator | No |
| Grand Central | Private sector operator | No |
| Heathrow Express | Private sector operator | No |
| Hull Trains | Private sector operator | No |
| Lumo | Private sector operator | No |
| Caledonian Sleeper | Public sector operator (Transport Scotland) | No |
| ScotRail | Public sector operator (Transport Scotland) | No |
| TfW Rail | Public sector operator (Transport for Wales) | No |