Editing Rail transport in Great Britain (section)

=== Renationalisation ===

{{Main|Great British Railways|Transport for Wales Rail|ScotRail}}
{{See also|History of rail transport in Great Britain 1995 to date#Timeline of upgrades|l1=Timeline of future rail network upgrades in Great Britain}}
{{See also|List of railway lines in Great Britain|Rail transport in Wales}}

Currently, six franchises are under public ownership, and thus effectively nationalised. Four, [[London North Eastern Railway|LNER]], [[Northern Trains]], [[Southeastern (train operating company)|Southeastern]] and [[TransPennine Express]], are [[Operator of last resort|operators of last resort]] owned by the [[Department for Transport]]. [[Transport for Wales Rail]] is owned by [[Transport for Wales]], a [[Welsh Government]] owned company, with no current plans to re-privatise the latter. On 1 April 2022, [[ScotRail (brand)|ScotRail]] was put under public ownership by the [[Scottish Government]], under [[Transport Scotland]] as [[ScotRail]] operating on the same day.

The [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 pandemic]] caused a huge fall in the number of passengers using the railways, with journeys in 2020 being about 22% of the previous year, before rising again as travel restrictions eased.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=COVID-19: Rail passenger numbers fall to lowest level since time of steam trains in 1872 |url=https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-rail-passenger-numbers-fall-to-lowest-level-since-time-of-steam-trains-in-1872-12324020 |website=Sky News |date=3 June 2021 |access-date=3 October 2023 |archive-date=2 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231002175803/https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-rail-passenger-numbers-fall-to-lowest-level-since-time-of-steam-trains-in-1872-12324020 |url-status=live }}</ref> During 2020, all [[Train operating company|train operating companies]] entered into emergency measures agreements with the UK and Scottish governments.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/news/theonsclassifiestrainoperatingcompaniesnowrunningunderemergencymeasuresagreements |title= The ONS classifies train operating companies now running under emergency measures agreements |date= 31 July 2020 |website= ONS |access-date= 12 April 2021 |archive-date= 12 April 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210412163453/https://www.ons.gov.uk/news/news/theonsclassifiestrainoperatingcompaniesnowrunningunderemergencymeasuresagreements |url-status= live }}</ref> Normal franchise mechanisms were amended, transferring almost all revenue and cost risk to the government, effectively 'renationalising' the network temporarily.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/local-transport-today/news/66334/uk-rail-effectively-renationalised-during-pandemic/ | title= UK rail effectively 'renationalised' during pandemic | date= 3 August 2020 | website= transportxtra | access-date= 12 April 2021 | archive-date= 12 April 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210412163453/https://www.transportxtra.com/publications/local-transport-today/news/66334/uk-rail-effectively-renationalised-during-pandemic/ | url-status= live }}</ref>

In September 2020, the UK Government permanently got rid of the rail franchising system.<ref name="BBC News">{{Cite news|date=21 September 2020|title=Rail franchises axed as help for train firms extended|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54232015|access-date=19 May 2021|archive-date=19 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519220012/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54232015|url-status=live}}</ref> On 20 May 2021, the Government announced a white paper that would transform the operation of the railways. The rail network will be partly renationalised, with infrastructure and operations brought together under the state-owned public body [[Great British Railways]]. Operations will be managed on a concessions model. According to the BBC, this represents the largest shake-up in the UK's railways since privatisation.<ref name="BBC News"/> On 18 November 2021, the government announced the biggest ever public investment in Britain's rail network costing £96&nbsp;billion and promising quicker and more frequent rail connections in the North and Midlands: the [[Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands|Integrated Rail Plan]] includes substantially improved connections north–south as well as east–west and includes three new high speed lines.<ref name="Gov">{{Cite news|date=18 November 2021|title=Integrated Rail Plan: biggest ever public investment in Britain's rail network will deliver faster, more frequent and more reliable journeys across North and Midlands|language=en-GB|work=Department of Transport|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/integrated-rail-plan-biggest-ever-public-investment-in-britains-rail-network-will-deliver-faster-more-frequent-and-more-reliable-journeys-across-no|access-date=18 November 2021|archive-date=18 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118113317/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/integrated-rail-plan-biggest-ever-public-investment-in-britains-rail-network-will-deliver-faster-more-frequent-and-more-reliable-journeys-across-no|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2024, the new [[Premiership of Keir Starmer|Labour government]] confirmed that [[Train operating company|passenger services]] would be brought back into public ownership upon the expiry of their contracts as part of the wider renationalisation of the rail network.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 April 2024 |title=Labour pledges to renationalise most rail services within five years |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68889345 |access-date=14 July 2024 |website=BBC}}</ref>