West Midlands Trains prepares for public ownership
A key rail operator which runs services across Shropshire, the Black Country and wider West Midlands will transfer to public ownership this weekend.
Transport UK is the company which owns and operates West Midlands Trains but is preparing to hand over its services to the UK Government at 2am on Sunday (February 1).
West Midlands Trains will transition to DfT Operator, the government-owned company established in 2018 with the aim of bringing all privately owned train operators into public ownership ahead of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027.
West Midlands Trains runs rail services in the region under two brands: West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway.
Among its services are the Shrewsbury to Birmingham line via several Shropshire stations, routes around the Black Country and to Birmingham International for the NEC and airport and the key Cross City commuter line from Worcestershire to Staffordshire via stations in Birmingham.
London Northwestern Railway runs services from London to the North West via stations across the West Midlands.
The transition from Transport UK to the Government will see more than 3,400 employees and 14 fleets move over.
Transport UK said that, during its stewardship, it had invested £1 billion in the region's rail network, including £700 million in new and refurbished trains, and it served 150 stations.
New stations are also due to come into operation in Darlaston, Willenhall and a trio in south Birmingham.
Transport Focus is the independent watchdog for transport users which releases regular customer satisfaction reports.
Its most recent Rail User Survey, published in June, placed West Midlands Railway eighth and London Northwestern Railway 13th out of 22 companies for overall passenger satisfaction.
Among the findings, both West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway received 30 complaints per 100,000 journeys against an industry average of 37.
Transport UK chief executive Dominic Booth said: "We are proud of the work delivered at West Midlands Trains under our stewardship.
"By drawing on the expertise of Britain's most seasoned transport professionals, we have delivered a regional railway that serves the needs of the West Midlands community while also operating intercity services that connect the region to the rest of the country.
"Our focus has been on building an operation that performs well day to day and can be handed over in good order."
West Midlands Trains was founded as a consortium of three companies - Dutch operator Abellio and Japanese firms JR East and Mitsui & Co - which together won the right to operate the 'West Midlands franchise' on a nine-year contract from 2017.
It replaced the old London Midlands operator which ran the services for a decade from 2007.
In 2022, the UK arm of Abellio announced a management buyout from its state-owned Dutch parent company which brought West Midlands Trains, along with Merseyrail, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia and 50 routes under Abellio Bus London, into UK ownership.
The company also changed its name to Transport UK Group.
