Aslef hails Chiltern Railways renationalisation after Tory failure

Privatisation / 18 September 2026 MPs reject Thames Water rescue deal and urge Burnham to renationalise 18 September 2026 Jagtar Singh Johal / 18 September 2026 Scot bailed after nine years of ‘arbitrary detention’ in India 18 September 2026 Healthcare Crisis / 18 September 2026 NHS Trust found to have given around 20 women unnecessary mastectomies 18 September 2026 Palestine Solidarity / 18 September 2026 Wales Pension Partnership urged to move ahead with divestment from genocide 18 September 2026 Healthcare / 18 September 2026 Welsh ministers must use their powers to fix NHS pay, unions urge 18 September 2026 Scotland / 18 September 2026 Comrades gather in Glasgow for book lunch on General Strike centenary 18 September 2026 RAIL union Aslef has welcomed Chiltern Railways becoming the 10th and latest rail firm to be brought back into public ownership.

After 30 years in the hands of privateers, the firm moved to the government’s programme of public ownership, Great British Railways (GBR), yesterday.

The Department for Transport said that the transfer into public ownership would tackle overcrowding by introducing 25 extra daily services 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.

A spokesman for the train drivers’ union said: “We welcome another passenger company being brought back into public ownership today. 

“[Former Tory PM] John Major’s privatisation was ideologically driven, utterly misguided and a palpable failure. 

“The franchise system never worked and money which could have been used to invest in our rail infrastructure and reduce fares for passengers haemorrhaged from the network in private profits and shareholders’ dividends. 

“The railway is a vital public service and now, under this Labour government, which is delivering on its manifesto commitment, we are seeing the wheels and the steel brought back together where they belong: in the public sector.”

Britain’s largest train operator Govia Thameslink Railway as well as c2c, Greater Anglia, South Western Railway and West Midlands Trains have previously been brought into public ownership by the government.

Great Western Railways’ services will follow on December 13.

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

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, with legislation to create it included in the recent King’s Speech.

Chiltern runs services from London Marylebone to Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire as well as destinations in the west Midlands.

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 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.”

Transport / 19 September 2026 Future-proofing the railway means investment in people, tech and regions 19 September 2026 Train drivers’ union Aslef general secretary DAVE CALFE speaks to Ben Chacko about his hopes that Burnham’s devolution agenda will include the importance of the railway

TUC Congress 2026 / 15 September 2026 We need a rolling-stock revolution to get Britain back on track 15 September 2026 Privatisation and the break-up of our integrated rail system have been disasters. The Labour government’s pledges on reindustrialisation and renationalisation offer the solution, argues DAVE CALFE of Aslef