The first train carrying Great British Railways (GBR) branding has been unveiled in Brighton ahead of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) entering public ownership later this month.
The newly branded Class 387 train, operated by Southern, features a red, white and blue livery and will begin operating across routes in the south and south-east of England during the bank holiday weekend.
First Great British Railways branded train unveiled as Britain’s biggest train operator’s services are nationalised
© GOV.UK
The unveiling comes before Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services transfer into public ownership on 31 May. GTR will join other operators already managed by DfT Operator Limited, including South Western Railway, Northern and LNER.
The transfer will mean that more than 11,000 publicly owned rail services will operate each weekday.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said:
The unveiling of the first GBR‑branded train in Brighton today makes the future of Britain’s railways a reality.
It represents all of the work being done by staff up and down the country to fundamentally reform our railway.
This isn’t just a paint job – it’s an important step towards building a more joined‑up, publicly-owned railway that puts passengers first, delivers better services and leaves the frustrations and fragmentation of the past behind.
The GBR branding will gradually appear across trains, stations and staff uniforms. The government have said the rollout would take place over time to limit costs.
Plans for Great British Railways also include a national ticketing app designed to allow passengers to buy tickets, check timetables and arrange Passenger Assist services in one place.
John Whitehurst, Chief Operating Officer for GTR, said:
We’re very pleased to be the first train operator to have a Great British Railways-branded train on our network, and I’m proud of how hard colleagues have worked to get us here.
It’s a significant milestone for everyone at GTR, which reflects our readiness for change and the improvements we’ve already been delivering for customers.
As we move closer to our transition to public ownership on 31 May, our priorities remain providing safe and reliable services every day, with customers, colleagues and communities at the heart of everything we do.
The government said publicly owned operators had, on average, performed better on punctuality and cancellations than operators yet to transfer into public ownership. It highlighted c2c and Greater Anglia as among the strongest-performing operators, with more than 90% of trains arriving within three minutes of schedule and cancellation rates below 2%.
Officials also pointed to recent timetable increases, including additional capacity on LNER services and the reopening of the Northumberland Line under Northern.
Further operators are due to transfer over the next 18 months, including Chiltern Railways in September 2026 and Great Western Railway in December 2026.
The government expects the full programme of transferring passenger rail services into public ownership to be completed by the end of 2027.