The UK’s largest train operator, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), has been nationalised and will now be run by the government’s rail operating company.

Responsible for 1 in 6 passenger rail journeys in Britain, GTR keeps the South East moving, delivering one of the UK’s most extensive rail networks and carrying hundreds of millions of passengers each year.

GTR operates the Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express services, but the franchise/concession has now been handed to the government-owned DfT Operator Limited (DFTO). Unlike other nationalisations, where the government buys the company, with the railways, the operating franchises are time-limited anyway and, when cancelled, simply revert to the government.

DFTO is the Government’s rail owning group and delivery partner for its Public Ownership Programme. It is responsible for bringing all DfT-managed and privately owned train operators into public ownership ahead of the creation of Great British Railways (GBR).

GTR joins West Midlands Trains, Greater Anglia, c2c, South Western, Northern, TransPennine Express, Southeastern and LNER which are currently managed by DfT Operator Limited (DFTO). As a result, eight in ten passenger rail journeys that GBR will ultimately be responsible for are now delivered by publicly owned operators under DFTO.

Chiltern Railways’ services will be next to transfer on 20 September 2026, followed by Great Western Railways on 13 December 2026, marking another step in the government’s plans to bring services into public ownership. They expect the full public ownership programme to be completed by the end of 2027.

GTR services:

Thameslink – cross-London services between Bedford/Peterborough/Cambridge and Brighton/Horsham/East Grinstead, and between Luton/St Albans and Sutton/Wimbledon/Rainham; plus services between London and Sevenoaks

Great Northern – services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn

Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)

Gatwick Express – fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria