Chiltern Railways brought into public ownership

17 Sep 2026 01:17 PM

Chiltern Railways brought into public ownership with more daily services and more reliable journeys.

Chiltern Railways services will move into public ownership this Sunday (20 September 2026), as the government drives forward change to bring the essentials in life back under stronger public control and finally deliver the rail services people deserve.

Connecting London Marylebone with communities across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands, Chiltern Railways will become the sixth operator whose services transfer into public ownership, which will support more reliable trains for the thousands of people who rely on them every day to get to work, school and see family and friends.

The transfer will pave the way for a package of improvements for Chiltern passengers, including more services and seats, new trains, upgraded stations and better facilities on board. Public ownership also provides a fresh opportunity to deliver East West Rail and its benefits to passengers.

For many who use Chiltern services, overcrowding has become a daily frustration, especially in peak hours. To tackle this, 25 additional daily services will be introduced from December, providing 10,000 extra seats each weekday. The rollout of new state-of-the-art trains will increase capacity while improving accessibility and providing better wifi on board.

The transfer marks another milestone on the journey to Great British Railways (GBR) and making life’s essentials affordable again. Bringing operators’ services into public ownership ahead of its creation is already delivering benefits for people, with fares frozen for the first time in 30 years, 76,000 extra seats a week introduced across the network and a fleet of new GBR trains set to be built in Britain to serve major cities across the north whilst supporting thousands of jobs.

From this Sunday, passengers whose train is cancelled will also be able to use another operator’s service at no extra cost.

Rail Minister, Lord Hendy, said:

From this Sunday, Chiltern Railways passengers will be travelling on rail services back in public hands.

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 Great British Railways, 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.

Following the transfer into public ownership, Chiltern Railways passengers will benefit from:

• More services and seats: a new timetable from December will provide 25 extra services each weekday including half hourly service throughout the day on the Chiltern Mainline between London and Birmingham. This will provide almost 10,000 extra seats every weekday, nearly 5,000 on Saturdays and more than 3,000 on Sundays, helping to tackle overcrowding.
• New modern trains: 6 more state-of-the-art Chiltern Explorer trains will enter service as part of the December 2026 timetable, completing a fleet of 13. The new trains will increase capacity and provide improved accessibility, air conditioning and enhanced wifi for passengers between London and the West Midlands.
• Better trains: a £12 million refurbishment of Chiltern’s existing Class 168 fleet will continue, with upgraded wifi, power and USB charging at every seat and refreshed interiors by 2028.
• Cleaner, better stations: investment will improve stations across the network, including refurbished toilets, painting, deep cleaning and graffiti removal. At Haddenham and Thame Parkway, 200 previously closed car park spaces will be reopened, helping make it easier for passengers to access the station.
• Better information and easier journeys: new signage at 5 of Chiltern’s busiest stations will help the almost 20 million passengers a year who use the network get to their destinations, alongside upgraded customer information screens, help points and accessible ramps. These improvements will make the railway easier to use and help customers stay informed when travelling.
• East West Rail: public ownership also provides a fresh opportunity to deliver East West Rail and its benefits for passengers.

Tony Baxter, interim managing director of Chiltern Railways, said:

Sunday is a significant milestone for Chiltern Railways and we look forward to working together with the wider rail industry to deliver a better railway for everyone in Great Britain.

Over the next 12 months, our customers in London, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands will benefit from more new trains, more services, thousands of additional seats, improvements to stations and on-board facilities and the ability to use their ticket on other operators when faced with disruption – customer improvements made possible thanks to years of planning, dedication and hard work by Chiltern colleagues.

Public ownership will further strengthen that progress through closer collaboration across the industry, helping us share best practice, drive innovation and focus on what matters most to customers, businesses and communities across our network.

The next operator’s services to transfer into public ownership will be Great Western Railway on 13 December 2026, ahead of completion of the full public ownership programme by the end of 2027.