Great British Railways

Great British Railways (GBR) is a planned state-owned railway company that will oversee railways in Great Britain, most train services in England and fast services to Scotland and Wales.

Great British Railways

Type	Government-owned company
Industry	Train services and infrastructure management
Predecessor	Network Rail Passenger train companies Rail Delivery Group DfT Operator
Headquarters	Derby , United Kingdom
Area served	Great Britain
Products	Public Transport
Owner	British Government

History

The railways of Great Britain were originally built by private companies, but after the Transport act 1947 it was nationalised and was run by British Railways until the railways become privatised, which begun in 1994 and finished in 1997. The rail infrastructure, passenger and freight services were separated at the time.

In 2024, the Labour government of Keir Starmer announced that the railways would be re-nationalised. Passenger services will return to government ownership as their franchises expire. This began on 25 May 2025 with South Western Railway. Re-nationalised services will be run initially by DfT Operator and then be integrated into GBR when it is established.

Branding

British Rail Double Arrow

GBR will use an updated version of the Double Arrow. It was originally designed in 1965 and used by British Rail and has since continued to feature as a unifying symbol on the railways since privatisation.

Proposed GBR livery

In December 2025, the logo, brand and livery for GBR was unveiled by the government. All trains will use the same livery with no distinction between inter-city and commuter services. A gradual roll-out will begin from Spring 2026.

Companies that will be integrated into GBR

• Network Rail – the owner and manager of the railway infrastructure.
• DfT Operator – the government-owned holding company responsible for running nationalised train operators.
• Rail Delivery Group – an industry umbrella body which brings together passenger and freight rail companies. It also oversees the National Rail brand and its enquiries service.
  • The 14 franchised train operating companies (of which 7 are owned by the DfT Operator) will also be folded into GBR.
• Office of Rail and Road (some functions) – GBR will assume some of the functions of the ORR including management of track access to third party operators.

Companies that will remain independent from GBR:

• ScotRail
• Transport for Wales Rail
• Open-access operators
• Locally devolved operators such as London Overground, Merseyrail and the Elizabeth Line.

Great British Railways Media

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  Great British Railways "coming soon" branding on a South Western Railway Class 701 train

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  The British Rail Double Arrow symbol

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  Planned structure of the rail sector in the UK following GBR's creation