Thameslink Southern Great Northern Limited,Thameslink Southern Great Northern Limited Companies House trading as Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR), is a state-owned British train operating company that took over the services of privately-owned operator Govia Thameslink Railway on 31 May 2026. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport. The company runs trains under the sub-brands Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink.
History In the lead-up to the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party of Keir Starmer committed itself to bring the passenger operations of the British rail network back under state ownership.Labour promises rail nationalisation within five years of coming to power The Guardian 25 April 2024Labour pledges to renationalise most rail services within five years BBC News 26 April 2024 Following its election win, the government introduced the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 that received the royal assent in November 2024.Rail nationalisation takes a step closer under Starmer’s first major public reform in Commons victory The Independent 4 September 2024Government reveals first three operators to be renationalised after law change Railnews 4 December 2024
In September 2025, it was announced that the passenger rail services provided by Govia Thameslink Railway would transfer to state ownership on 31 May 2026.Next train services to return to public ownership revealed as government delivers railways reset Gov.uk 26 September 2025British passenger renationalisation progress International Railway Journal 29 September 2025DfT names next operator to be renationalised Railnews 29 September 2025
Services
Gatwick Express
Great Northern
Great Northern is the name of the suburban rail services run on the southern end of Britain's East Coast Main Line and associated branches. Services operate both to and from London King's Cross and Moorgate. Destinations include Hertford North, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Peterborough, Cambridge and King's Lynn.
Southern
Southern routes run from London Victoria and London Bridge through the South London suburbs of Battersea, Norbury, Peckham, Sydenham, Crystal Palace, Norwood, Croydon, Streatham, Purley and Sutton to towns surrounding London including Caterham, Epsom and Tadworth.
Further afield, Southern also serve Redhill, Tonbridge, Uckfield, East Grinstead, Gatwick Airport, Brighton, Ashford International, Worthing, Hastings, Portsmouth Harbour, Eastbourne, Horsham, Southampton Central, Littlehampton and Bognor Regis. Additionally, Southern run West London route services from Watford Junction to East Croydon via Clapham Junction.
Thameslink
Thameslink is a 68-station main-line route running 225 km (140 miles) through London from Bedford to Brighton, serving both Gatwick Airport and Luton Airport, with a suburban loop serving Sutton, Mitcham and Wimbledon and a suburban line via Catford and Bromley South to Sevenoaks. As of June 2026:
Rolling stock Greater Thameslink Railway inherited the following trains from its predecessor: FamilyClassImageTypeTop speedNumberCarriagesRoutes operatedBuiltmphkm/hGatwick ExpressBombardier Electrostar387EMU110177184London Victoria to Brighton20152016Great NorthernBombardier Electrostar379EMU 100 160304London King's Cross to Ely/King's LynnLondon King's Cross to Letchworth Garden City/Cambridge20102011387 110 177124London King's Cross to Ely/King's LynnLondon King's Cross to Letchworth Garden City/Cambridge20142017Siemens Desiro717 Desiro City85137256Moorgate to Welwyn Garden CityMoorgate to Stevenage via Hertford North2018Southern Bombardier Turbostar 171 DMU 100 160 13Southern Useful Information - Southern. Retrieved 29 August 2013. 3 London Bridge to UckfieldEastbourne to Ashford International 4 2 Bombardier Electrostar 377/1 EMU 55 4 Entire Southern network apart from sections between Hurst Green and Uckfield & between Ore and Ashford International 200114 377/2 15 377/3 28 3 377/4 75 4 377/6 26 5 377/7 8 387/1387/2387/3 110 177 46 (Shared with Gatwick Express) 4London Victoria to Eastbourne/OreBrighton to Eastbourne/OreBrighton to Southampton Central</p> 201617 ThameslinkSiemens Desiro700 Desiro CityEMU100161608Entire Thameslink network201520185512
Future
TfL takeover On 20 September 2025, Transport for London (TfL) submitted an outline business case to take over Great Northern services from Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City, Hertford North, and Stevenage and integrate it into the London Overground network. TfL wants to increase the number of trains from 2 to 4 trains per hour, standardise fares across the route, serve a 21,000 home development at Crews Hill, and boost growth in North London and Hertfordshire. The takeover could occur in Autumn 2027, if approval is given by DfT. However, the Overground services would use the existing Class 717 stock.
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