Great Western Railway transitions to public ownership

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 13:03 · Archive

Great Western Railway will be taken into public ownership from 2am on Sunday, December 13.

Great Western Railway will transition from private to public ownership from 2am on Sunday, December 13. The operator, currently First Greater Western Limited, will become Greater Western Railway Limited under the Government's public ownership programme.

Passengers will notice no difference in the daily operation of trains or the staff providing services. Existing bookings, accounts, rewards memberships and customer services will continue unchanged. The transition is intended to bring the service under a new structure called Great British Railways.

Customers' personal data, including contact details, booking history, payment records and railcard information, will move to the new company. However, this data will continue to be managed using the same systems and teams as before, for the same purposes. The new operator will have additional responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Department for Transport said the move was 'another significant moment for the Government's flagship public ownership programme' and represents the Government's commitment to 'bring services back into public ownership and put passengers, not shareholders, at the heart of our railways'.

Great Western Railway transitions to public ownership — Image: Oxford Mail

Comments (0)

How it is being reported

Great Western Railway issues urgent message to passengersGreat Western Railway have issued an urgent message to customers ahead of the transition to public ownership.Oxford Mail · 5 Nov, 12:30
Great Western Railway issues urgent message to passengersGreat Western Railway have issued an urgent message to customers ahead of the transition to public ownership.Oxfordshire Guardian · 5 Nov, 12:30

In this story: Great Western Railway · Department for Transport · Great British Railways

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log