Train nationalisation 'lacks ambition'

Nationalisation of one of the rail companies which runs services in Surrey has "no long term ambition" and is not equipped to deal with day-to-day challenges, a campaign group has claimed.

South Western Railways (SWR) became the first company to be re-nationalised by the government in May 2025, but Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander admitted services had so far not been good enough just over a year on.

Jeremy Vance, of the SWR Watch campaign group, also told BBC Radio Surrey that the infrastucture was continuing to "creak at the seams" amid mounting frustration from passengers.

An SWR spokesperson says reliability is "not where we want it to be".

Vance, who founded SWR Watch in 2015, said: "I think they set the bar incredibly high before the general election.

"There's no long term ambition. Passengers are not getting the service they thought they would get under nationalisation.

"I have spoken to people who are spending less in the office because they are spending so much time wasted on trains."

In an exchange with Woking MP Will Forster in the House of Commons on Thursday, Alexander said she says she accepts SWR's performance in the past year "has not been up to scratch".

Alexander said the department would "leave no stone unturned" in search of improvements.

At the time SWR was renationalised, the government described it as a "new dawn for rail", but Alexander has since said that she could not guarantee train tickets would get cheaper.

Since then other train companies including Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have been renationalised and brought under the GB Rail banner, while Great Western Railway (GWR) will be renationalised in December.

An SWR spokesperson said: "It will take time to unpick the challenges we've inherited, but we have a clear plan in place to upgrade our infrastructure, recruit more drivers and refresh our timetable, which, alongside our new fleet of trains, will deliver a more reliable railway for our customers."

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