Major UK railway to be nationalised on Sunday
Passengers across London and Essex will be travelling on publicly-owned train services from this Sunday (20 July), as c2c’s services become the next to be brought into public ownership through government plans to nationalise the country’s railways.
From Sunday, c2c services operating from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness will be placed in public hands, marking the second operator’s services to be brought into public ownership under new legislation, and the sixth operator run by the Department for Transport Operator (DFTO) – meaning around 4 in 10 passenger journeys will be run under public ownership.
c2c will be joining Northern, TransPennine Express, Southeastern, LNER and South Western Railway, currently operated by DFTO.
The move marks another step forward toward the planned formation of Great British Railways – a single national railway company. This follows the passing of the Public Ownership Act in November 2024, which will enable passenger services operating under contracts with the department to be brought into public ownership.
“c2c is consistently rated one of the best-performing operators in the country, recently achieving high customer satisfaction ratings of 89%, supporting thousands of jobs, and driving economic growth from London to Essex.
“Under public ownership, it will continue to thrive – engaging closely with local communities, sharing best practices across other operators and working towards a more efficient railway with passengers at its heart,” the government said.
Passengers can use their tickets on another publicly owned operator at no extra cost during disruption, and passengers in the north are now making journeys across Northern and TransPennine Express with just one booking, with over 15,000 journeys estimated to be booked this way since June 2024.
Through working with Network Rail, Southeastern has increased capacity to popular seaside spots in the summer months, allowing more passengers to take the train to beaches like Margate, Whitstable and Herne Bay.
Two-thirds of Britons have already expressed their support for public ownership, which will save the taxpayer up to £150 million a year in fees alone and ensure every penny can be spent for the benefit of passengers.
