Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to establish Great British Railways, following the disbandment of the Great British Railways Transition Team in March 2025.

The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act was the first step towards fixing our railways, enabling the majority of services to be owned by and run for the public, but we need further fundamental reform to fix the underlying structural problems and put passengers and customers back at the heart of the railway.

Great British Railways (GBR) is set to be the ‘directing mind’ for the rail industry, bringing together the management of the network and the delivery of passenger services into a single public body. A design programme for GBR is underway, which is jointly run by the Department for Transport, DfT Operator and Network Rail.

We anticipate that GBR is to be set up over the following 12 months after the Railways Bill receives Royal Assent. The Bill is expected to be introduced later in this session.