King's Speech 2026: Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill

Wednesday, 13 May 2026 12:19

“My Government will improve critical infrastructure with legislation to… establish Great British Railways” Our railways are essential for ensuring reliable, affordable and accessible transport. They offer a crucial route for people to get to work and education, they connect friends and families, and they support businesses and the wider economy. The rail sector and its supply chains support more than 220,000 jobs and generate wide economic...Request free trial

“My Government will improve critical infrastructure with legislation to… establish Great British Railways”

Our railways are essential for ensuring reliable, affordable and accessible transport. They offer a crucial route for people to get to work and education, they connect friends and families, and they support businesses and the wider economy. The rail sector and its supply chains support more than 220,000 jobs and generate wide economic benefits by connecting people and places.

However, the railways have suffered neglect. Services have fallen below expectation, customers deserve more and taxpayers have been getting poor value for their hard-earned money. The Bill will finally address this, delivering on the manifesto commitment to establish Great British Railways and provide new leadership, accountability, and passenger focus to a sector that has been in desperate need of it.

The Bill ensures the railway delivers for those who rely on it most. It establishes a strong Passenger Watchdog to ensure passengers' voices are championed at every turn, simplifies the current confusing and fragmented ticketing system, and includes duties to protect and grow the freight industry – unlocking the economic growth opportunities the Government is committed to delivering.

What does the Bill do?

Low public trust and pride in today's railway are symptoms of a system which has lost sight of the very people and customers it is meant to serve. The Government is delivering Britain a railway fit for its future.

The Bill will:

Establish Great British Railways (GBR), a new publicly owned company that will be at the core of the reformed rail industry. GBR will unite track and train under a single body for the first time in a generation. GBR will be unambiguously accountable for making the railway work for passengers, customers, and taxpayers. Whether reuniting family and friends, transporting critical goods across the country, or connecting Britain's business, GBR will ensure that the railways deliver for all those that rely on it.

Set up a powerful Passenger Watchdog that will set consumer standards for the railways, investigate poor service, and provide an independent rail ombudsman service to resolve disputes between passengers and operators. This means passengers will have an independent voice fighting their corner and holding GBR to account.

Simplify fares and tickets. Buying a ticket is frequently confusing and opaque for passengers, with no less than 55 million different fare types available. GBR will consolidate the 14 existing operator websites into a single online platform, and reform the outdated fares structure making it easy for passengers to find the most affordable fare. For each journey there will be one transparent price available to everyone.

Realise the benefits of rail freight and ensure freight is properly considered within GBR's planning and decision-making, through two new statutory duties. This means that there will be a single strategic body empowered to deliver the ambitions for freight and with the levers to drive progress towards set targets.

Provide long-term confidence. GBR will be steered via a new Long-Term Rail Strategy. This is the first time in railway history the sector will have a strategy of this kind, providing confidence and certainty for the industry. The Strategy will inform GBR about the Government's priorities for the railway, helping it to make long-term choices which align with key priorities on housing, the economy, and the environment.

Make best use of the railway. The Bill makes GBR the single accountable body for deciding access to its rail network. This will rid the sector of the current complexity and fragmentation which has led to disagreements on which services to run, delays in producing timetables and an inability to cope with growing capacity constraints. The only way to solve this is to put one body in charge of it all, to consider the whole network holistically and fairly, and to make the best use of it in the public interest.

Empower devolved leaders. The Bill puts power back where it belongs – closer to passengers and communities. Mayors in Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have a statutory role, ensuring they have a powerful voice and are empowered to work in partnership with GBR. Devolved governments will have bespoke agreements giving them a clear role in the management of GBR. This is a genuine step-change and will ensure local interests across Great Britain are considered in every aspect of GBR's decision-making.

Territorial extent and application

The Bill will extend to the whole of the UK, with most measures applying to England, Wales and Scotland.

Key facts

Once all currently franchised services have transferred, public ownership will save the taxpayer up to £150 million a year in fees that would otherwise have been paid to private operators.

Reforms will simplify the industry and unlock £1 billion in efficiencies, which will greatly outweigh the investment required to deliver a once in a generation improvement in the way train services are planned and delivered.

Passengers will save £600 million as part of the Government's regulated fares freeze, with passengers on some routes saving more than £300 a year, as part of plans to put passengers back at the heart of the railway.

The railway faces a significant affordability challenge. Government funding for the operational rail industry was around £12 billion in 2024-25. This covers nearly half of total industry costs and equates to around £400 per household in Great Britain. It is vital that taxpayers are getting value for money and a rail service they can rely on and have confidence in.

Overall levels of government support for operational costs remain nearly £4 billion higher than pre-pandemic. GBR will be incentivised to drive up revenue, reduce subsidy, and deliver for taxpayers.

There were around 1.7 billion journeys made by rail passengers in Great Britain in 2024-25, a 7 per cent increase from the year prior. However, rail passenger usage has not quite yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Integrating track and train through GBR will support more efficient service planning and improved performance of the railways.

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to overhaul how the railways are run – creating a service that puts passengers first, with more reliable trains and simpler fares and tickets.”

Mayor of the North East, Kim McGuinness, said “Passengers are crying out for a rail service that works for them. We need our train services to be joined up and much more reliable – helping more people get to where they need to be for the right price.”

The Chief Executive Officer for the Campaign for Better Transport, Ben Plowden, said “An accessible, affordable and reliable rail network integrated with the wider transport system is key to delivering sustainable economic growth and improving regional productivity. [This] marks another important step on the road to realising this vision and delivering a railway that works for passengers, freight operators and the country as a whole.”