Our Pathway to Public Ownership

11th December 2023 | News

Bring Back British Rail was founded in 2009 to popularise the idea of bringing our railways back into public ownership. We have collected more than 150,000 signatures across various petitions during this time with numerous successes, most notably seeing rail renationalisation reinstated as Labour party policy in 2015.

We also led a successful legal action against the Department for Transport (DfT) which resulted in the EastCoast mainline being taken back into public ownership in May 2018. And our campaign to bring ScotRail back into public ownership (first launched in 2014, then relaunched in 2020 during the pandemic), led to the Scottish Government’s decision to end their contract with Abellio in March 2021.

Seven of Britain’s rail franchises are now back in public ownership. After a decade-and-a-half of campaigning, we can now finally see the end in sight. Labour has pledged to bring the remaining rail franchises “back into public ownership as contracts expire”, and then to re-unify them under once single identity and one ‘guiding mind’.

The next General Election must take place before 28 January 2025. If Labour wins this, as polls suggest, our research shows that all the current contracts with private operators controlled by the DfT (including even the recently agreed Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry contracts) will end either their initial term, or their extension period, under the next parliamentary term.

This presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity which cannot be missed.

DfT rail contract expiration dates:

* Already in public ownership (the ScotRail, Caledonian Sleeper and Transport for Wales Rail contracts are controlled by their respective devolved governments and are also all now in public ownership).