The UK government has started the process of renationalising the country¡¯s rail services by bringing South Western Railway (SWR) into public ownership.

The Department for Transport said the move was a ¡°watershed moment¡± for the UK rail industry and would end ¡°30 years of fragmentation, frustration and poor performance¡±. South Western operates services to and from London Waterloo station to suburban London and the south west of England.

The current Labour government intends to bring all public rail services under its control by the end of 2027, which will all eventually be operated by a new organisation, Great British Railways.

¡°Starting with?SWR, each operator will have to meet rigorous, bespoke performance standards on things like punctuality, cancellation and passenger experience, so we can rebuild a world class public service,¡± added the DFT in a statement.

Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said:?¡°I know that most users of the railway don¡¯t spend much time thinking about who runs the trains ¨C they just want them to work.

¡°That¡¯s why operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways. We have a generational opportunity to restore national pride in our railways and I will not waste it.¡±

The government said that bringing rail operations under public ownership would save ?150 million a year in fees and promised to ¡°ensure every penny can be spent for the benefit of passengers¡±.?Although media reports suggest this will not lead to lower rail fares in the UK.

The next UK rail networks to be renationalised will be C2C in July, followed by Greater Anglia¡¯s services in October.

Great British Railways will be formally created later this year in the UK parliament, with SWR services being run by the government¡¯s DFT Operator Limited (DFTO) during the interim period.

DFTO already runs four UK rail networks - London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Northern, Southeastern and TransPennine Express - which came back into public ownership during the previous Conservative government.