The date when Greater Anglia railways will be nationalised has been confirmed.
The Department for Transport has confirmed that Greater Anglia will be nationalised on October 12 this year.
The government’s Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 to nationalise train operations was given royal assent in November last year.
But the announcement on Friday (May 9) confirmed the date when it would happen.
Martin Beable, managing director of Greater Anglia, said: "I am very proud of what we have achieved here in East Anglia over the past thirteen years, significantly improving standards, investing in a complete fleet of new trains and working closely with the local community.
"As we transition to a publicly owned railway, we remain focussed on delivering outstanding levels of service for our passengers."
The rail operator said train services, timetables and station facilities will be unaffected by the transition, with no changes to ticket validities or conditions of carriage.
They said employees' roles are also unaffected, as they will all transfer across into the publicly-owned company.
Earlier this year, Jerome Mayhew, shadow transport minister and Broadland and Fakenham MP, criticised the move to nationalisation.
He urged the government to "listen to the deep concerns of the rail industry" and "avoid another disastrous nationalisation".
Speaking in February, and referring to the nationalisation of ScotRail, he said: "The latest experiment in nationalisation has shown in just two years, state inefficiency has pushed up costs, not reduced them, by £600m, forcing fares to rise as delays have increased, customer satisfaction has slumped and services have been cut, not improved."
The government has said nationalisation will increase value for money in the operation of railways, including getting rid of up to £100m a year in management fees.
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