OWNERSHIP of West Midlands Trains (WMT) transferred to Department for Transport Operator (DfTO) on February 1. WMT is the fourth British passenger operator to return to the public sector under the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act which became law in November 2024.
WMT was previously owned by a joint venture of Transport UK (85%) and Mitsui (15%), operating under contract to the Department for Transport (DfT) commuter and regional services under two distinct brands. London Northwestern Railway (LNR) provides services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) from London Euston to Birmingham and Liverpool, while West Midlands Railway (WMR) operates the commuter and regional network centred on Birmingham.
WMR is jointly managed by DfT and the West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE), led by mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker, under a collaboration agreement which was renewed on February 1.
“We’ve introduced more than 100 new trains as well as upgrading our depots and station facilities,” says WMT managing director, Ian McConnell.
With the transfer of WMT, eight out of the 14 operators that will eventually become part of Great British Railways (GBR) are now in public ownership. As well as WMT, DfTO manages Greater Anglia, c2c, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and South Western Railway (SWR).
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) will be next to transfer to public ownership on May 31, with Chiltern Railways and Great Western Railway (GWR) expected to follow by the end of this year. While the secretary of state for transport, Heidi Alexander, has yet to make the final decision on when the last transfers will take place, DfT expects the full public ownership programme to be completed by the end of 2027.
