Rail company serving London latest to be nationalised by Government

The rail operator, which runs services between London Marylebone, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and the West Midlands, is the sixth train operator whose services have been nationalised by the Government.

The Department for Transport said the transfer into public ownership would tackle overcrowding, with 25 additional daily services being introduced from December.

This includes half hourly services during weekdays on the Chiltern main line between London and Birmingham, as well as more services at the weekends.

The new services will provide 10,000 extra seats each weekday, the Government said.

It is the latest rail company now under the Great British Railways (GBR), the government's programme of public ownership.

GBR will be a new public sector body bringing responsibility for tracks and trains under a single organisation for the first time since privatisation in the mid-1990s.

Great Western Railways’ services will follow on December 13.

LNER, Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express were already nationalised when Labour came to power.

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.

“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.”

There was minor disruption on the first day of public ownership when lines towards Oxford and London Marylebone were temporarily blocked on Sunday morning due to engineering work not being finished on time near Bicester Village, the train operating company said.

Services on the Chiltern Mainline were expected to be “much busier” than usual between Birmingham and London Marylebone on Sunday, due to the late notice closure of the West Coast Main Line affecting services at London Euston.

The rail company said it would run more trains than usual between Birmingham and London Marylebone, “with significantly enhanced capacity”, adding some stations including London Marylebone and Birmingham Moor Street will have queuing systems in place.

Some routes and smaller stations will be served by rail replacement bus services, including no services between Amersham and Aylesbury Vale Parkway all day Sunday.

Customers are advised to check their journey before they travel.