CAMPAIGNERS have warned that the government has yet to get “public ownership right” following the renationalisation of South Western Railway (SWR) over the weekend.

Previously owned by FirstGroup and MTR Corporation, SWR officially came under public ownership yesterday morning at 2am.

Its first journey, departing from Woking to London Waterloo, was partly by rail replacement bus due to engineering works.

Now managed by the Department for Transport Operator, SWR is the first service to be renationalised under the Passenger Railway Services Act 2024, which will transition passenger rail services into public ownership.

C2c, which runs between London and Essex, is the next service set to be brought under public control on July 20. Greater Anglia will follow on October 12.

All other services run by private firms contracted with the Department for Transport are expected to be renationalised by the end of 2027.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who caught the 6.14am train from London Waterloo to Shepperton, said: “Today marks a new dawn for our railways.

“Moving away from 30 years of inefficiency, delayed services and failing passengers and moving confidently into a new era – the era of Great British Railways.”

Great British Railways (GBR) is the new public body set to unify renationalised train services and take charge of rail infrastructure.

Public ownership campaign group We Own It lead campaigner Johnbosco Nwogbo said: “The fact that the first South Western Rail service under public ownership will be a rail replacement bus shows that public ownership cannot come to our railway system quickly enough. 

“Today is a great day for passengers because our railway is finally beginning its journey back to putting us, our communities, and our planet before the profits of private shareholders.

“But the job is not yet done. 

“The government still has to get public ownership right, so that it really delivers for people. 

“As things stand, the government’s proposed reforms will retain competition law in rail and maintain the requirement to stimulate competition. This is privatisation by the back door.”

General secretary of rail union TSSA Maryam Eslamdoust said: “The transfer of SWR into public hands is a landmark moment which heralds in practical terms the beginning of the end to three decades of failed privatisation across the railways.  

”However, we do have concerns about the future of travel concessions for railway workers and their families. 

“These are long-standing entitlements that recognise the public service contribution of railway staff. We urge the government to protect and uphold these benefits as part of its commitment to a fair and just transition to public ownership:”

Train drivers’ union Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We’re delighted that Britain’s railways are being brought back where they belong – into the public sector.

“Now we are going to see the wheels and the steel put back together, an end to the failed fragmentation of our network, and a railway brought back into the public sector, where it belongs, to be run as a public service, not for private profit.”

Last week, rail union RMT welcomed SWR’s renationalisation as a “clear rejection of the failed privatisation model.” 

“But the job is incomplete when our contracted-out members remain outsourced and not reaping the benefits of nationalisation," general secretary Eddie Dempsey warned.

“This lingering injustice for our members working for profit-hungry private contractors must end and RMT will campaign tooth and nail to make insourcing a reality.”