The Department for Transport has published a report entitled Great British Railways and the public ownership programme, dated 8 September 2026, setting out updates on the programme to bring rail services into public ownership and to establish Great British Railways as the body responsible for passenger services and infrastructure.
The document provides an update on progress and next steps for the public ownership programme, according to the Department for Transport. It confirms that the programme remains focused on transferring rail services into public ownership while establishing a single organisation to oversee passenger delivery and the network's infrastructure.
What the report says
The report makes clear that the proposed body, Great British Railways, is intended to be responsible for both passenger services and infrastructure. That dual remit is identified in the Department for Transport's summary as central to the programme's design.
Updates in the document relate specifically to the mechanics and governance of transferring services from private contracts into public ownership. The Department for Transport frames these changes as part of a broader reorganisation of how passenger services and infrastructure responsibilities are held.
The public ownership programme explained
The Department for Transport describes the programme as the vehicle for delivering the transfer of services into public ownership and for establishing the new oversight body. The report is presented as an account of progress on those tasks and of the institutional arrangements intended to follow.
The report's publication on 8 September 2026 provides the latest formal update from the Department for Transport on the status of those plans. It therefore represents the government's recorded summary of activity on the public ownership programme at this point in time.
The document does not, in the supplied notes, include detailed timelines, funding figures or operational directives. The Department for Transport's summary emphasises responsibilities and structural objectives rather than granular contractual detail.
The publication is likely to be used by stakeholders across transport and public policy as the official update on the programme's stated aims, namely transferring services into public ownership and creating a unified body for passenger services and infrastructure oversight. The report stands as the current statement of the Department for Transport's approach to those objectives dated 8 September 2026.