Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain

Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain is the system of contracting the operation of the passenger services on the railways of Great Britain to private companies, which has been in effect since 1996 and was greatly altered in 2020, with rail franchising being effectively abolished in May 2021. In 2024 rail franchising was formally abolished, with rail contracts set to enter government control at the expiration of their contracts from 2025 onwards.

The system was created as part of the privatisation of British Rail, the former state-owned railway operator, and involved franchises being awarded by the government to train operating companies (TOCs) through a process of competitive tendering.^[1] Franchises usually lasted for a minimum of seven years and covered a defined geographic area or service type; by design, franchises were not awarded on an exclusive basis, and day-to-day competition with other franchises and open access operators was possible, albeit occurring on a limited number of services.^[2] Over the years, the system evolved, most notably reducing the initial 25 franchises to 17 through a series of mergers. Seven franchises are currently in public ownership under the operator of last resort arrangement.

The Conservative government initially suspended rail franchising in order to maintain service as passenger demand fell due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but on 21 September 2020 permanently abolished the rail franchising policy, and put in place emergency arrangements which effectively converted the franchises into concessions. The successor Labour government confirmed in 2024 that the train operating companies would be brought into public ownership as their contracts expired, a process that is expected to be complete by October 2027.

The system only covered the railways of Great Britain (including the Isle of Wight); the railways in Northern Ireland are owned and operated by the state-owned company NI Railways.