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.