Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander outlined Labour’s immediate railway plans, framed nationalisation as restoring public service, and pledged consumer-facing changes including a GBR app and more services moving into public ownership.
Labour will create Great British Railways (GBR) and move to Day One preparations within months, with a passenger-facing GBR app promised.
Investment and improvements cited include 39 new Arterio trains on the network, cleaner onboard facilities, and measures to allow ticket transfers across operators during disruption.
Alexander identified Rolling Stock Companies (ROSCOs) as a structural barrier to better services and said more work is needed to fix long-standing fragmentation.
At Labour's conference Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander framed transport as a force that expands people's opportunities when it works and constrains them when it doesn't. She argued the previous three decades of rail fragmentation put profit ahead of passengers and announced steps the current government is taking to change that.
Public ownership and the new rail structure
Alexander confirmed the government is preparing for Day One of Great British Railways, the new publicly owned body that will manage tracks and trains. She promised a customer-focused GBR app to modernise fares and ticketing and described the broader intent to put "people before profit."
The speech lists several operators already in public ownership and sets out new renationalisation moves. Avanti was singled out for transfer into public ownership at the earliest opportunity, with March next year named as the target month. Cross Country and East Midlands Railway were also announced to be renationalised next year. Alexander said a comprehensive improvement plan will follow each takeover, focused on passenger outcomes rather than shareholder returns.
Structural issues: ROSCOs and fragmentation
A recurrent theme of the speech is structural failure in the rail system. Alexander criticised the role of Rolling Stock Companies (ROSCOs), which for nearly 30 years have owned most passenger trains instead of operators. She presented ROSCOs as one of the "hidden challenges" that hold the railway back and implied further reform will be needed to address ownership and incentives across the network.
Political framing and critique of previous governments
Alexander placed the argument about rail reform in political terms: she said the Conservatives designed a system that served private companies and shareholders and that those ministers now argue the state should not intervene. She rejected that position and presented Labour's approach as active government intervention to restore public service and modernise rail travel.
Beyond policy specifics, Alexander used personal appeals about why party members do the work they do. She invoked early journeys that expanded people's lives as a way to justify transport reform and to argue the government's duty is to leave the network in a better state.
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