Since Sunday, the British government has once again taken control of the English railway company South Western Railway. It is the first nationalized railway company since British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced plans to improve train transport.
The nationalization of the railways was one of the key points during the election campaign of Starmer, who became Prime Minister in July 2024. Train transport in the United Kingdom is struggling with major delays: three in ten trains do not run on time. In addition, almost 5 percent of journeys are canceled, partly due to a shortage of staff and insufficient maintenance.
In addition, many Britons complain about the high prices for a train ticket. These are problems that Starmer’s government wants to address with the nationalization.
The nationalization of the South Western Railway is the first step in this. The various railway companies are to be housed in the intended state-owned company Great British Railways. That state-owned company will be housed at the Ministry of Transport. Two more railway companies are to come into the hands of the government by the end of this year.
The British railway companies were privatized in the 1990s. The current government wants to reverse that step. Transport Minister Heidi Alexander calls the nationalization a “turning point” to put the railway companies back at the service of travelers.
But she warned that “change will not happen overnight”. Ticket prices were also not immediately lowered on Sunday.