The first Great British Railways-branded train has been unveiled as part of the nationalisation of Britain’s largest train operator services.
This unveiling took place in Brighton on Thursday 21 May, with the new Union Jack livery and branding to begin rolling out gradually across England’s rail network as services move into public ownership.
From Sunday 31 May, Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services will enter public ownership – making the Great British Railways (GBR) responsible for more than 11,000 services each weekday, with around 8 in 10 passenger rail journeys will be taking place on publicly owned services. Chiltern Railways’ services will be the next to transfer on Sunday 20 September, followed by Great Western Railway on Sunday 13 December 2026, with the full public ownership programme expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
The unveiling of the first GBR-branded train, a Class 387 operated by Southern, comes just before the first anniversary of South Western Railway entering public ownership, kick starting the end of almost 30 years of fragmentation and waste under privatisation.
Passengers across Britain are already experiencing the benefits of public ownership, with publicly owned Department for Transport (DfT) train operators performing better on punctuality and cancellations on average than those yet to come under DfT Operator Limited (DFTO) ownership. They’re also benefiting from the first freeze in rail fares in 3 decades, saving passengers hundreds of pounds off their season tickets.
As part of making rail travel simpler and easier to navigate, the GBR brand will also feature on the incoming GBR ticketing app where passengers can check train times, buy tickets with no booking fees, and book Passenger Assist.
As the government moves forward with its rail reforms, passengers across Britain are already experiencing frozen rail fares for the first time in three decades and increased services for passengers with 76,000 seats per week in the December timetable uplift.
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said that the unveiling of the first GBR-branded train is an important step towards building a more joined‑up railway that puts passengers first and leaves the frustrations and fragmentation of the past behind.