Case study - GBR: improvements train operators in public ownership are making for customers

On 4 December 2024, the government launched the rail public ownership programme, bringing train operators into public ownership. Publicly owned operators run passenger services in the interests of customers, not shareholders.

These operators are putting passengers first by delivering improvements that enhance performance, customer experience and accessibility across the railway network.

South Western Railway

In public ownership, South Western Railway are:

Modernising and improving their West of England Fleet, with a programme beginning in December 2025 (to be completed during 2028). This will overhaul the 15X fleet serving the West of England, improving performance and reliability of the trains while delivering customer benefits such as interior upgrades and at-seat USB power.

Delivering the new Arterio fleet to transform their suburban network, with over 50% of morning high peak arrivals into Waterloo now on Arterio trains. These provide increased capacity and more comfort for passengers. SWR are aiming for most Arterios to be introduced by the end of Summer 2026 (75% of total schedules).

Building a new timetable for the first time in 20 years, by consulting with stakeholders and passengers, with design in early 2026 and a full public consultation in Autumn 2026. The timetable transformation will seek to strike the right balance between enhanced connectivity in their communities, more services and capacity, better train performance on the network and increased economic value for the taxpayer.

Investing over £600 million in improving infrastructure performance to reduce delays and cancellations, complete by March 2027. This includes track and signal renewals, level crossing upgrades, and renewal of associated infrastructure, with projects such as West of England line resilience works, London Waterloo-Clapham Junction upgrades, Island Line improvements, and strengthening the railway at Fareham-Havant and Portsmouth Harbour.

Recruiting more drivers to improve reliability and reduce cancellations, with an increase in the numbers of drivers in active service each year, and increase the number of new drivers in training by 50%.

c2c

In public ownership, c2c are:

Creating more capacity for passengers at peak times, by rebuilding Platform 2 at Basildon to allow longer trains to run. This will mean more 10 and 12 carriage trains, as well as more trains stopping at Basildon, reducing crowding across the c2c network. This will increase capacity and provide more room to passengers to travel comfortably, particularly at peak times. From Sunday 14 December 2025, 12 car trains will be able to ‘call' at Basildon Platform 2, following many months of work introducing a 100 metre platform extension to Platform 2. On average this will mean 30 twelve car trains per week, with up to 6,500 additional seats for customers.

Delivering a better Barking station experience, redeveloping one of c2c's highest footfall stations to make it more easier and enjoyable to use. This includes an upgraded ticket office and customer lift, better pedestrian flow with a new and extended gateline, and a brighter, safer station environment. Works are due to be completed in 2026. Additionally, new retail units will be opening offering customers more choice to enjoy as they travel, expected to be open from quarter 2 to quarter 3 2026.

Making stations safer with Body Worn Cameras for staff, equipping more colleagues with to help keep stations safe and secure.

Upgrading lighting for brighter, greener trains – helping keep customers safer, and journeys more sustainable. This will create a more welcoming environment for passengers on class 357 trains, and use less energy. All trains to be completed in approximately the next 12 months (9 trains completed already).

Greater Anglia

In public ownership, Greater Anglia are:

Introducing pay as you go for more passengers, with Project Oval Phase 2 bringing about 11 million passenger journeys into scope in 2026, of which Greater Anglia expect around 3 million passenger journeys converting to contactless.

Pioneering new stations, by being the first station operator to build a new type of innovative small-to-medium-sized stations in the UK. Greater Anglia will build the new ‘first of a kind' standardised modular station in Wickford using Network Rail's new ‘Hub' station design, designed to give the UK rail industry a blueprint for a customer-focussed, sustainable, value for money station of the future. Works are due to be completed in Autumn 2026.

Improving accessibility of stations, with the opening of the new, highly accessible, Cambridge South Station in 2026, as well as adding more stations to Greater Anglia's virtual station tours portfolio to enhance customer confidence. Greater Anglia will also improve accessibility at a key mainline station by installing and opening a modern, accessible footbridge at Stowmarket station, further underlining Greater Anglia and the government's commitment to a railway that is accessible for all.

Reducing delays through fitting of advanced monitoring equipment to trains. This equipment will give Network Rail engineers the time to fix some track and overhead line faults before they cause delays to service and is an early demonstration of the value of integrating track and train. The first trains will be fitted by March 2026.

LNER

In public ownership, LNER are:

Adding 4.4 million extra seats annually and even more great value fares through the December 2025 timetable. This transformational timetable will deliver more frequent, faster journeys and better value on the East Coast Main Line, with more, cheaper tickets available, a reduction in the subsidy required for rail, and delivering the benefits of £4 billion invested on the East Coast Main Line over the past decade across track and train.

Enhancing passenger information across all their managed stations. LNER will complete installation of the latest passenger information screens, including replacement of 50 information screens at York and Newcastle, and introduce new, modern ticket vending machines that will transform how passengers receive information, with enhanced accessibility, and dual-screen technology for an improved passenger experience.

Improving station facilities for passengers with a new building at Darlington station. This is a multi-million-pound redevelopment project delivered in partnership with Network Rail. The Darlington station project will create a modern transport hub with improved accessibility and connectivity including two new platforms for greater reliability and future travel options for passengers.

Transforming passenger experience through modernised training for frontline teams. LNER will modernise frontline training by March 2026, to provide every passenger with a consistently helpful and informed service. Training will be continuous, with regular refreshers, and delivered through modern learning methods, with a focus on ensuring every passenger has the same experience on every journey.

Introducing instant updates during disruption – powered by AI to keep passengers informed and in control when travelling. This will enable faster, smarter decision-making – reducing delays, helping services recover more quickly, and allowing LNER to continuously learn and improve from every disruption event through data-driven insight (with delivery in 2026). For passengers this means instant travel updates and simpler journey changes during disruption, backed by data-driven improvements to reduce delays and deliver a more reliable railway. LNER is collaborating across the sector to drive a unified approach across the rail industry.

Northern

In public ownership, Northern are:

Focused on reducing train service cancellations and providing a reliable, predictable trains service for its customers.

Boosting Assisted Travel Support with a dedicated Customer Experience Centre team and extra staff at busiest stations, making journeys more accessible and reducing failed assistance.

Trialling new pay as you go technology that uses GPS location to track journeys in real-time and charge for the best-priced ticket for train travel at the end of the day. This means customers will not need to buy a ticket, just simply use their phone to check in and out on their journey. Trials will take place on the following routes into 2026: Leeds to Harrogate, Sheffield to Doncaster and Sheffield to Barnsley.

Improving stopping power of trains to reduce delays. Northern is upgrading the sanding systems across its fleet to ensure trains can safely maintain timetable performance during autumn conditions caused by leaf fall. Northern are also continuing to install variable-rate sanding equipment prioritising its older trains, which will further enhance braking performance. This programme will extend to Northern's more modern fleet where needed and is scheduled for completion by Autumn 2028.

Introducing more capacity on trains and bring 2 more stations into operation on the Northumberland line to connect even more communities to the railway. Northern will add 30,000 seats between Leeds and Sheffield with additional express services, 5,000 seats between Newcastle and Middlesborough and 3,000 seats between Huddersfield and Leeds every week. Northern will also bring Northumberland Park and Bedlington stations into operation on the Northumberland line and will introduce a new late night service from Newcastle to Ashington.

Procuring new trains. Subject to business case, Northern will be able to sign contracts in 2027 for over 130 new trains to enter into service from 2031. These will replace life expired assets.

Southeastern

In public ownership, Southeastern are:

Making Pay-As-You-Go contactless ticketing available at 23 more stations on the network in 2026, and plans in place to roll out digital Pay-As-You-Go across all remaining stations in 2027. Every Southeastern station will also benefit from new modern, easier to use ticket machines to help ensure customers always get the best value fare for their journey.

Procuring new rolling stock for the Metro network (with the process concluding in mid-2026), serving South-East London. This will deliver more reliable, accessible services and a better customer experience, with these new trains potentially entering into service from the end of the decade.

Introducing new technology to improve safety and prevent delays, with forward-facing CCTV and thermal imaging cameras on 32 passenger trains by the end of the year. These monitor the railway in real time, and use AI technology to feedback actionable data to engineers. A pilot programme detected 41 overheating issues and avoided over 9,000 minutes of delays, with coverage now being extended across the South Eastern Railway.

Building a more accessible railway for all, by jointly delivering Access for All schemes with Network Rail. This includes the country's largest Access for All scheme, Hither Green station. They are also expanding their Mobile Assistance Team to provide more booked and unbooked assistance for passengers.

Delivering their best ever customer service, with an improved customer service training programme. This two-year initiative has already seen nearly 1,000 team members completing their new training, and another 1,000 will join the programme over the next year. This has already helped Southeastern recently achieve a 90% customer satisfaction score, its joint highest since 2016, when this measurement system was introduced.

TransPennine Express

In public ownership, TransPennine Express are:

Restoring customer trust and confidence with a 79% reduction in cancellations since May 2023 following the resumption of driver rest day working – improving availability and reducing their training backlog. Through delivering a service customers can depend on, they have restored customer trust and confidence but there is still more to be done to strengthen their resilience. They are working closely alongside their partners to review and refine current terms and conditions, giving drivers greater flexibility and in turn, a more stable and reliable service for customers.

Increasing station staffing levels by more than 10% to improve customer experience and accessibility. This will improve staffing visibility, delivery of passenger assistance, ticket office coverage, and availability of assets and facilities that are opened and closed by staff. Delivery is underway.

Improving accessibility through: enhancing Meeting Points at stations, introducing assisted boarding points at their unstaffed stations, and making improvements to their accessibility complaints handling. This will provide pleasant places for customers to wait for assistance and clear places to meet staff for assistance, while TransPennine Express will take further steps to identify themes in failed assists and work with other operators to resolve these.

Introducing dedicated Police Community Support Officers which will work alongside existing security and revenue protection teams, bringing greater legal powers, advanced training, and access to more police intelligence than private security, while supporting their award-winning safeguarding initiatives and community partnerships.

Investing to improve their onboard wifi and improving their catering offer. A £100,000 per annum investment to improve the speed of their free onboard wifi has now been put in place, and helps passengers stay connected on their journey, whether to work or watch entertainment on board. They are also making their TransPennine Kitchen offering permanent on their intercity trains. This follows fantastic customer feedback.

Delivering a 6-month booking horizon across all their services, due to be delivered by September 2026 by working with the Rail Delivery Group to deliver the required changes. This is currently in place for journeys that are not affected by engineering work, but will be expanded to all journeys by automatically rebooking passengers when their booked journey is changed. This will help passengers book earlier and gives them the confidence to book regardless of their journey.