UK introduces Railways Bill to create Great British Railways

GBR is to merge the work of 17 organisations and replace the operators' 14 ticketing platforms with one shared website and app; Scotland and Wales get a stronger role. According to the Transport Secretary, its staff will not become civil servants.

The bill puts into law what the Williams-Shapps plan of May 2021 called for and was meant to be passed swiftly. Great British Railways is meant to bring operation, maintenance and improvement of the network under one roof, merge 17 existing organisations from operators to the regulator, and answer to passengers, freight customers and taxpayers; tickets are eventually to be sold through a single website and app replacing the operators' 14 platforms. Scotland and Wales are to get a bigger say, and the RMT union welcomed the plans, although the Transport Secretary has made clear that rail staff will not become civil servants (LOK Report, 10 Nov 2025).