The Government has officially enshrined public ownership of Great British Railways (GBR) in legislation.
An amendment to the Railways Bill, which was introduced by the Government and passed during report stage in the House of Commons on 10 June, has cemented the requirement that GBR must be publicly owned.
Any future attempts to privatise the organisation will now require a full Act of Parliament, which would place any decision firmly in the hands of elected representatives and protects the railway from privatisation without significant intervention.
Since the early days of the announcement of the Government’s new approach to rail reform, public ownership has remained central to the overall plan – with this new amendment formalising the commitment in law and ensuring that reforms are able to deliver lasting change for the future.
This change will have no impact on GBR’s ability to attract private investment, or work collaboratively within the private sector.
The Railways Bill is now moving through Parliament, and will move to the House of Lords following Third Reading yesterday (10 June 2026).
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said:For too long, decisions on our railways were made for private profit. This Government made a promise to change that, to build a railway run for the public good not private gain.
Today we strengthened that promise, futureproofing Great British Railways to ensure it will always be in public hands.
GBR will be run by industry experts and publicly owned - open to private investment with the flexibility to grow, but its founding purpose will always be the same: to serve passengers, not shareholders. Today takes us one step closer to delivering this lasting change and a railway this country deserves.
