Great British Railway plan promises simplified fares in biggest rail shake-up since privatisation

The government has announced plans for Britain’s trains to be run under a single brand name “Great British Railways”.  The change unpicks one of the main features of the privatised rail system introduced by the Conservatives 25 years ago – but it’s not renationalisation.

Although the public will no longer see a patchwork of train operators with different names and paint jobs, those companies will still be there, just running the trains behind the scenes.