Avanti West Coast is to be renationalised in March as Labour explores publicly owning new trains to cut £4bn leasing bill

From the Newshound archive · first published 29 September 2026.

Britain's worst-performing long-distance train operator, Avanti West Coast, will pass into public hands on 7 March 2026 when its contract runs out, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced at the Labour conference in Liverpool. The firm recorded a cancellation rate of 7.1% between April and June. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said "enough is enough" for passengers who had endured a service "that has failed them time and time again."

Private rolling-stock companies currently pocket over £4bn a year in leasing and maintenance fees — with dividends from those firms totalling more than £2.5bn over the past decade.

Under a new Rolling Stock and Infrastructure Strategy, Great British Railways will examine each future train order individually to determine whether to buy, lease or use alternative financing — ending leasing as the automatic default.

Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden warned the plans would leave taxpayers "on the hook for tens of billions of debt and interest for decades" and accused Labour of being "in hock to their union paymasters".