Thameslink Trains Will Be Government-Run In 2026

Labour's re-nationalisation plans continue apace.

The pink and white line on the Tube map will be under public ownership from 31 May 2026, says the Department for Transport.

Govia Thameslink currently runs the service, which includes the popular north-south link through the centre of London. Thameslink is the only line on the Tube map not to fall under the aegis of Transport for London.

Thameslink and Govia's other routes will be brought into public ownership in a matter of months, when the private contract comes to an end in the spring.

The sprawling Govia Thameslink networks provide some 300 million passenger journeys per year. They include the route through St Pancras, Farringdon and Blackfriars, with branches out to a wealth of destinations including Bedford, Cambridge, Brighton and Wimbledon.

A glance at the network diagram shows just how important Thameslink alone is to London and surrounding counties.

Govia also operates the services badged up as Great Northern (the line out of Moorgate to Welwyn and Stevenage), the complicated Southern network, and the Gatwick Express. These, too, will be nationalised.

Govia Thameslink's franchise isn't the only one on the docket. The following will also revert to national ownership in the coming months:

• Greater Anglia: 12 October 2025

• West Midlands Trains: 1 February 2026

• Chiltern Railways: 2026 (date to be announced)

• Great Western Railways: 2026 (date to be announced)

  
  

C2C out of Fenchurch Street was the first of the new bunch to slip back into government hands, when the route was nationalised in July. The East Coast Mainline (LNER) has, of course, been publicly owned since 2018.

Most other routes should be in public ownership by the end of 2027. They will be folded into an umbrella organisation called Great British Railways, which is currently being set up.

What's the big idea with all this? Consolidation. Bringing everything under one publicly owned body should — should — bring various kinds of efficiencies and savings, and simplify ticketing. Cheaper tickets are very loudly not being promised, however.

Transport for London, itself a public-sector body, will not be part of Great British Railways. Indeed, Mayor Sadiq Khan had previously presented a business case to bring certain London-suburban routes into his own public transport fiefdom, Transport for London. The announcement of Thameslink's move to GBR would seem to stymie that dream in the short term, but who knows what negotiations are going on behind the scenes.