Greater Anglia to be nationalised - rail operator

Greater Anglia is set to be nationalised later this year, the rail operator has said.

The company, which runs trains across the East of England and into London, said it would be brought under public ownership on 12 October.

It said train services, timetables and station facilities would be unaffected by the transition, and employees' roles would all transfer across.

Martin Beable, the company's managing director, said the firm would "remain focused" on delivering its services. The Department for Transport has been approached for comment.

Greater Anglia runs trains throughout Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, including the Stansted Express airport service.

Mr Beable said: "I am very proud of what we have achieved here in East Anglia over the past 13 years, significantly improving standards, investing in a complete fleet of new trains and working closely with the local community."

Not called Abellio anymore. I believe a management buy out earlier this year created Transport UK. However this page at https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/about-us/company-information refers to both Abellio East Anglia Limited and Transport UK East Anglia Limited

Being serious, though, this should simplify negotiations with unions at least slightly, as there will eventually be one employer to deal with, although it's going to be a few years before full implementation. There will presumably be cuts to back-office numbers as services such as HR, payroll, and uniform design are amalgamated. I don't suppose we'll notice much difference for quite a while.

I'm ... looking to get a list of where we stand on all the TOCs and reverts to nationalisation:

2025 Abellio East Anglia Limited 2021 rail contract
tba  Abellio East Midlands Limited 2022 rail contract

Quote from: grahame on Today at 08:57:59
And an interesting follow up in The Standard which includes an interview with Heidi Alexander - there's a lot there - quotes to follow.

POssibly need to amend the subject line & move board?

And an interesting follow up in The Standard which includes an interview with Heidi Alexander - there's a lot there - quotes to follow.

Ms Alexander said she wanted to avoid creating a “death spiral” by cutting services in a flawed bid to hold down fares.

Three rail operators will be renationalised by Labour next year after it passed a law allowing it to do so.

South Western Railways will be renationalised in May 2025, C2C in July 2025, and Greater Anglia in autumn 2025, the transport department has confirmed.

South Western Railway will be the first rail operator renationalised by the Labour government, according to a report.

Labour has pledged to renationalise rail services as operator franchises come to an end, and South Western's contract finishes in May 2025.

Control of the railway will be handed to the operator of last resort, the body which runs renationalised rail services, the Financial Times reported.

The government passed a law near the end of November to let it take rail contracts back into public ownership.

The government plans to set up a new arms length body, Great British Railways (GBR), which will take over service contracts currently held by private firms as they expire in the coming years.

The plan is for GBR to operate services and set timetables, and eventually take over responsibility for maintaining and improving rail infrastructure from Network Rail.

However, some have criticised Labour's plans, arguing that public ownership is unlikely to make much difference unless it is paired with investment in the railways.

Responsibility for running train services was handed to private companies during the 1990s, and since then there has been a boom in rail usage.  But a number have faced criticism over fares and reliability, with critics saying privatisation has led to an inefficient and fragmented system.

Labour made it a manifesto pledge to renationalise most rail services within five years.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the government in effect took control of the railways.

Most train companies in England moved onto contracts where they get a fixed fee to run services, and the taxpayer carries the financial risk.

Four major operators - East Coast Mainline, TransPennine, Northern and South Eastern - have been taken under public control and are being run by the government's operator of last resort.

Transport for Wales was brought under Welsh Government control in 2021, and Scotrail was taken over by the Scottish Government the following year.

South Western Railway has more than 1,500 services scheduled to run per weekday in south west London and the south of England.  It operates across a huge area of southern England and East Anglia and is a key commuter service into London.