Birmingham's local trains eight months in public hands

WMR and London Northwestern Railway, the two brands of Birmingham's main local train company, have now been in public ownership for almost eight months, as the Government prepares to bring train operators together under Great British Railways.

The services transferred to public ownership on 1 February 2026, when the previous contract with the private operator ended. They are now run by WM Trains Limited, a subsidiary of DfT Operator Limited, the Government's public sector rail owning group.

What changed for passengers

For most passengers, very little changed on the day of transfer. The same trains, staff, timetables and tickets continued, and both brands were kept.

Part of a national programme

The company was the fourth operator to move into public ownership under the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024. From 1 February, eight of the 14 train operators that the Department for Transport is responsible for were publicly owned.

The aim is for all operators to be brought into public ownership before Great British Railways is created in 2027. Great British Railways will bring the running of trains and the management of track, signals and stations under one organisation, ending the split between Network Rail and train companies.

The network in Birmingham

WMR runs local services across Birmingham, including the Cross-City line between Lichfield and Redditch and Bromsgrove through New Street, and the Snow Hill lines. It also serves the new Camp Hill line stations at Moseley, Kings Heath and Hazelwell, which opened in April. London Northwestern Railway runs services between Birmingham and London Euston, and to Liverpool.

What passengers want

Passenger groups say the test of public ownership will be whether trains become more reliable, with fewer cancellations and better information when things go wrong, and whether fares become simpler.

Coming up

Passengers should be aware that there will be no trains at New Street from 24 to 28 December while overhead power lines are upgraded.