The UK Department for Transport confirms that UK rail operator Greater Anglia will return to public ownership on 12 October.
The company, which connects London with Norwich and Cambridge and recorded 82 million journeys in 2024-25, will become part of the DfT Operator, a precursor to the future Great British Railways (GBR), the public body that will unify rail operations in England and the management of rail infrastructure in Great Britain.
This transition is part of the government’s railway reform, which aims to end the fragmentation and reliability problems that arose after privatisation in the 1990s.
Greater Anglia is run by Transport UK (formerly Abellio) and Japan’s Mitsui. The Department says the transfer will not affect services, timetables or facilities, and all staff will be transferred to the new public company.
Greater Anglia’s return to the public sector follows South Western Railway’s (to be nationalised on 25 May) and c2c (20 July). The UK government says this process is key to achieving a more integrated, efficient and passenger-centred rail system.
