With the passage of the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act, Labour has formalised its plan to almost completely renationalise the railways of Great Britain. The new governing entity will be called Great British Railways. It will cover all rail travel apart from that covered by Transport for London, Merseytravel, and light rail.

These measures will largely undo the privatisation and compartmentalisation that commenced in 1994 under the Major government.

As the name perhaps suggests, the body will not cover rail in Northern Ireland. NI and the Republic have jointly published an All-Island Strategic Rail Review, detailing coordinated plans to modernise and electrify the railways in the whole of Ireland, with plans for frequent 200 km/h trains between cities, and the commissioning of an additional 700 km of track. Unlike GB which mainly uses Standard Gauge, all of Ireland uses the 1600 mm gauge.