Bedford St Johns 150 137 heads for Bletchley. Image: Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership
London Northwestern Railway, which operates passenger services on the Marston Vale Line, has been transferred into public ownership.
As of Sunday (1 February), the operator’s services are being managed by DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO), the government’s public sector owning group, which will manage train companies as they move into public ownership ahead of the creation of Great British Railways (GBR).
Image: Malchev/Shutterstock
The change is part of the government’s wider public ownership programme for train operating companies. Passengers’ tickets are not affected, and travellers are advised to continue buying tickets and travelling as usual.
London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway are both part of West Midlands Trains, with WM Trains Ltd as the parent company.
Marston Vale Line
London Northwestern Railway manages services on the Marston Vale Line as part of the Marston Vale Community Rail Partnership. The transfer into public ownership means those services are now overseen by DFTO.
The government says bringing operators into public ownership will help improve the passenger experience by enabling closer collaboration between train operators and railway infrastructure.
This aims to improve performance, reduce subsidies, foster innovation, and increase satisfaction.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “From this Sunday, the thousands of passengers who travel with London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway will be using services that are owned by the public and run with their interests at heart.
“We’re working hard to reform a fragmented system and deliver a reliable railway that regenerates communities, rebuilds the trust of its passengers and delivers the high standards they rightly expect.”
Ian McConnell, Managing Director of WM Trains, added, “Public ownership is an exciting opportunity to build on this success through a strong culture of collaboration and integration with the wider family of publicly owned operators.
“Together, we can drive performance by sharing best practice and accelerating innovation and continue to deliver even better journeys for our passengers across the LNR and WMR networks.
“We are now a step further on the journey to Great British Railways, a railway that we can be proud of and one that benefits the passengers and communities we serve.”
Cautious optimism
While public ownership has been welcomed by some, industry experts have urged caution.
As reported in The Guardian, transport specialists have warned that public ownership alone may not solve all of the challenges facing Britain’s railways, including rising costs and the level of public subsidy.
Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London and a former chair of the Office of Rail and Road, said:
“Irrespective of the ownership changes, the government’s got a major headache with the fact that rail is gobbling up so much public subsidy, and that’s before you get to HS2.
“The government are making promises to make fares even cheaper and services even better, but both will cost more public money.”
The information currently available on performance under publicly owned operators has been mixed, with some having seen improved punctuality and fewer cancellations, while others have worsened over the past year.