The Dutch national rail company has sold its Abellio UK business to its British management - including its 60% stake in Greater Anglia - so what difference will that make to passengers and staff?

For some, the simple answer is none at all - but there are also fears that it could heighten uncertainty at a time when the whole industry is in transition.

Changes are coming as a result of the government taking control of the rail industry. Whoever is running the trains themselves, whether it is Dutch-owned Abellio or the British-owned buy-out team, will have to do exactly what they are told by the Department for Transport or, potentially after 2024, the new body Great British Railways.

But rail expert and author Christian Wolmar warned that there were still huge uncertainties surrounding the industry.

He said: "The legislation to get Great British Railways on to the statute book hasn't started going through Parliament yet. We'll probably have a new Transport Secretary next month. What will happen then?

"The deal to set up a company to take over Abellio UK does have the look of a bit of a rushed job. I don't think anyone can say with any certainty what will happen next."

Since the pandemic and the dramatic fall in rail passengers in 2020, the government has poured billions into the rail industry. Its price for that has been to take over all major decision-making from the private companies that run the trains.

The government sets almost all fares. It is heavily involved in drawing up timetables - it decides what trains run when and where.

The crucial element so far as Dutch railways and the management buy-out team are concerned is how fares are distributed.

Until 2020 the government subsidised loss-making services and took a fee from profitable lines - mainly commuter routes - that the rail franchises operated.

The government regulated most fares - set an upper limit - but it was the companies who decided whether to go to that limit, which they usually did.

Now the fares are set by the government. It tells the rail companies what to collect from passengers. There is no leeway

Pre-2020 the franchisees had to pay them (or get the subsidy) but they kept the rest of the fare income and if there were profits then they could keep them to invest or return to shareholders.

That model was smashed with the loss of passengers, especially commuters, during Covid lockdowns. Passenger numbers might now be back to between 70% and 80% of pre-pandemic levels, but the commuters have not returned and there would still be huge losses if services were operated on the old model.

Now the government takes all the fares and pays the companies a fixed fee to run the trains - this is the same if the train is full or empty.

But the government has set the margins very tightly - income is guaranteed but the chance of making substantial profits running a rail company has disappeared.

One rail insider said: "The government is taking all the risk, but the potential rewards for the rail companies are very small indeed."

He felt the deal would make very little difference to passengers and staff - it was the government action that was important rather than the ownership of the companies with management contract.

Mr Wolmar agreed that the government was still calling all the shots in the rail industry - but felt that did not give any extra stability to the railways which are still in recovery mode and at the mercy of politicians whose attention may be focussed elsewhere.

He said: "We just don't know what is going to happen next or what emphasis the next Prime Minister is going to give to rail.

"The government could block this deal. It could all fall apart. The whole industry needs some stability."