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Chiltern Railways’ services became the latest to transition into public ownership on Sunday, marking the sixth train operator to be nationalised by the Government. The operator, which was privatised in 1996, provides rail connections running between London Marylebone, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and the West Midlands. From December, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that 25 additional daily Chiltern Railways services will be introduced to help tackle "overcrowding", delivering 10,000 extra seats during each weekday.
This plan incorporates half-hourly weekday trains running along the Chiltern main line between London and Birmingham, as well as an increase in weekend journeys. Rail minister Lord Hendy said: "Every transfer into public ownership gives us the chance to tackle the bread-and-butter issues people care about – more frequent, comfortable trains that turn up on time. "As we set up Great British Railways (GBR), we’re putting passengers first.
Lord Hendy said passengers are being put first (Getty) "It will not happen overnight, but we will build a railway the country can trust and rely on and that will create growth, jobs and homes." The UK’s largest train operator, Govia Thameslink Railway, alongside c2c, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway, and West Midlands Trains, have already been brought into public ownership by the Government. Services operated by Great Western Railways are scheduled to follow on December 13. Meanwhile, LNER, Northern, Southeastern, and TransPennine Express were previously nationalised prior to Labour coming into power.
When established, GBR will function as a new public sector body, uniting responsibility for tracks and trains under a single organisation for the first time since the mid-1990s privatisation. Key legislation required to form GBR was set out in the recent King’s Speech. Minor disruption occurred during the initial day under state control, with rail lines towards Oxford and London Marylebone temporarily blocked on Sunday morning after overrunning engineering work near Bicester Village was not completed on time, according to the train operating company.
Services on the Chiltern Mainline were expected to be "much busier" than usual between Birmingham and London Marylebone throughout Sunday due to a late-notice closure of the West Coast Main Line affecting travel at London Euston. The train firm confirmed it would operate extra trains between Birmingham and London Marylebone "with significantly enhanced capacity", while warning that queuing systems would be enforced at major stations, including London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street. Rail replacement bus services operated across certain routes and smaller stations, with no trains running between Amersham and Aylesbury Vale Parkway all day Sunday.
Customers were advised to check their journey before travel.
Source: The Independent
