Are London's nationalised train services actually any more reliable?

Five train companies serving London have been brought under public control under the Labour Government’s flagship railway nationalisation plan.

It is a popular policy that enjoys the backing of almost two-thirds of Britons, according to YouGov poll.

But is it providing a better service for passengers?

The Standard examines what the data tells us so far.

Which London rail operators have been nationalised?

The UK’s largest train operator Govia Thameslink Railway as well as c2c, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway and Chiltern Railways have been brought into public ownership by the Government.

LNER and Southeastern were already nationalised when Labour came to power.

At the time Labour took power in July 2024, 23% of passenger journeys in Britain were on publicly owned services.

Nationalisation of train operators

PA Wire

Under the reforms, Great British Railways (GBR) will operate services, set timetables and eventually take over responsibility for maintaining and improving infrastructure from Network Rail.

The aim is to create a more reliable, efficient and joined-up rail network, with passengers hoping the changes will mean fewer disruptions to their journeys.

Is nationalisation making any difference to performance?

An analysis of Office of Rail and Road (ORR) figures suggests that nationalisation has yet to bring consistent improvements to the network in terms of train cancellations or punctuality.

All five London-serving train operators brought into public ownership since May 2025 have recorded higher cancellation rates and an increase in delays than immediately before their takeovers.

South Western Railway (SWR), which runs services into London Waterloo, was the first train operator brought into public ownership under Labour in May last year.

In the 12 months leading up to its takeover, an average of 3.6% of planned trains were cancelled. By August 2026, that figure had risen to 4.28%, an increase of around 19%.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander poses at Brighton Station with a Great British Railways branded train

Getty

Cancellations have also risen at c2c, which operates services between London and Essex, including Southend.

Its cancellation rate increased from 1.73% before nationalisation in July 2025 to 2.19% in August 2026 — a rise of around 27%.

Despite the increase, c2c still cancels only a relatively small proportion of its planned services compared with other operators.

Greater Anglia has seen its cancellation rate rise by around 20%, West Midlands Trains by 28%, and Govia Thameslink Railway by 5%.

Punctuality has also worsened.

All five operators recorded a higher proportion of train stops more than three minutes late in the latest figures than immediately before nationalisation.

Passengers disembarking at Paddington

PA Wire

The largest relative increase was at c2c, where the proportion of late stops rose from 6.72% to 9.36% — an increase of around 39%.

Greater Anglia recorded an increase of around 26%, while South Western Railway saw a rise of approximately 8%.

West Midlands Trains recorded a 9% increase, while Govia Thameslink Railway saw a rise of around 6%.

Are more cancellations due to nationalisation?

It is still too early to draw any conclusions about the impact of nationalisation.

Of the five London-serving operators brought into public ownership since May 2025, only South Western Railway and c2c had completed a full year under public ownership by August 2026.

Govia Thameslink Railway, for example, had been publicly owned for less than five months.

The ORR figures are also based on rolling 12-month averages, meaning the latest results for some operators still include months when they were privately run.

Travel expert Christian Wolmar told The Standard it was “way too early” to know what the impact of nationalisation may be.

“It’s a bit like trying to work out the result of a football match ten minutes into the first half,” he said, adding “GBR hasn't even been created yet which will impose discipline on the whole concept.”

He added: “Essentially it’s working towards an idea that is good, that the railways are integrated.

“Separating them off has always been a bizarre idea because most rail networks around the world function on an integrated organisation.

“But there's a shortage of money and a legacy of all sorts of issues. It’s a complex structure to bring together and they are barely a third of the way through to appoint people so you really can't say.

“There's signs that sensible decisions are being made over investment as relevant people are coming around the table.”

Looking at the wider picture, publicly owned train operators recorded lower average cancellation rates and fewer delays than privately operated services in the 12 months to August 2026.

Across 24 operators, the average cancellation rate was 3.53% for publicly owned services, compared with 4.14% for privately operated services.

Gates decorated with the colours and design for the Great British Railways at London Bridge station

AFP/Getty

Publicly owned operators also performed better on punctuality. On average, 18.76% of their station stops were more than three minutes late, compared with 23.31% for privately operated services.

However, these figures do not take into account how many trains each operator runs.

This means a small operator running relatively few services has the same effect on the average as a much larger operator running thousands of trains.

The figures therefore give a broad picture of how operators are performing, rather than showing the percentage of all trains cancelled or delayed.

They also do not prove that public ownership is the reason for better performance.

Other factors, such as weather, trespass incidents, signalling problems and the condition of railway tracks, can affect services regardless of who runs them.

For London specifically, there’s also the question of whether — following nationalisation — TfL will be given control of the “within London” commuter railway or if GBR will set up its own branch specifically to serve the capital.

Questions also remain around the cost of nationalising the railways.

The railways currently receive around £12billion a year in government subsidies, excluding funding for major infrastructure projects such as HS2.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has made clear she wants to bring that figure down, but there are significant financial pressures facing the industry.

Network Rail has warned that tighter budgets will force difficult decisions, while protecting the network from increasingly extreme weather will require further investment.