Campaign to keep West Midlands / London Northwestern Railway public
On 1 February 2026, West Midlands / London Northwestern Railway will be the fourth rail franchise to be brought into public ownership by the Labour government, following the passing of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act in November 2024.
See which franchises will be next with our handy new Privatisation Departures Board.
Privatisation Departures Board
Prior to re-nationalisation, the National Rail Contract for West Midlands was directly awarded in September 2021 to a consortium comprising Abellio (the international arm of Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the national state-owned rail operator in the Netherlands), JR East (a private-sector rail operator in Japan) and Mitsui (a group of Japanese companies). This consortium had operated the former West Midlands franchise since December 2017, and paid a termination fee of £90.5m when moving to the new contract. The contract includes commuter services on the West Coast Main Line and is intended to run for five years. Abellio also operates the Abellio Greater Anglia, East Midlands Railway as well as Merseyrail in a joint venture with Serco.
• Do you use the West Midlands service regularly?
• Do you believe it should be returned to public hands as part of a re-unified national rail network run for people not profit?
• Then, why not start a campaign building up to the franchise end?
Bring Back British Rail will support you by promoting your campaign’s details on this website and putting you in touch with other local activists via our Facebook, Twitter and Riseup communities. Please get in touch on the email address below!
Existing Campaigns / Groups:
• How to sue your Train Operating Company for compensation for delays
