West Midlands Trains will become the latest operator to be re-nationalised in February 2026, the government has announced.
Under the brand West Midlands Railway, WMT operates dozens of services in Worcestershire, including the busy commuter services between Birmingham New Street and Bromsgrove, Birmingham New Street and Great Malvern, and Birmingham Snow Hill and Worcester Foregate Street.
Ian McConnell, managing director of West Midlands Trains, said: “I am extremely proud of what we have achieved under this franchise, delivering a £1 billion investment in two new train fleets and delivering significantly improved performance, which has transformed rail travel for millions of customers.
“As we transition into a publicly owned railway, our focus remains on delivering an outstanding service.”
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What is Great British Railways?
Labour pledged to create the state-owned Great British Railways in the build-up to the 2024 General Election, after three decades of privatisation on Britain’s rail networks.
West Midlands Trains will join c2c and South Western Railway as the third operator to be nationalised since Labour entered office, as well as operators LNER, Northern, Southeastern, and TransPennine Express, which were all re-nationalised between 2018 and 2023 due to operating issues.
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No re-nationalisation plans have so far been announced for GWR, which operates trains between Worcester Foregate Street and London Paddington, and Worcester Foregate Street and Bristol Temple Meads.
However, the government expects the seven remaining operators yet to have a confirmed date for re-nationalisation to all be under public ownership by October 2027.