c2c managers to be "allowed to get on" as second operator is nationalised under Labour

c2c management is to be allowed “to get on” with running services as the operator becomes the second to be nationalised under Labour.

Unlike previous takeovers by DFT Operations Ltd (and its previous name Operator of Last Resort), c2c is not facing significant operational or financial challenges. The day of handover is July 20.

The Trenitalia-owned operator recently achieved an overall passenger satisfaction score of 89% with the watchdog Transport Focus, while Office of Rail and Road (ORR) performance statistics for January-March 2025 showed that 79.1% of c2c trains were on time.

Only Greater Anglia (83.8%) and Chiltern (82.7%) achieved better.

Rail Minister Lord Hendy described c2c as a “high-performing operation”, telling RAIL: “We would like it to carry on as it is and get better. Let them get on with it.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) wants operators to improve performance, generate revenue and reduce costs, but c2c is not seen as one that presents a challenge in these areas.

Passenger journeys on c2c continue to recover after COVID but at a more modest rate than other operators due to the traditionally large amount of commuter traffic and changes to working patterns.

ORR data showed 37,286,143 passenger journeys were made in 2024-25, the highest since the pandemic but still more than 10 million down on the high of 47,873,649 in 2017-18.

No immediate management changes are expected for now, but there could be some reshuffling once the neighbouring Greater Anglia (GA) operation is taken over on October 12.

c2c Managing Director, Rob Mullen said nationalisation provided “a golden opportunity to collaborate with the wider family of publicly owned operators, sharing our successes and best practice, but also learning from a wider range of different and diverse operators”.

The DfT wants to see nationalised operators building closer relationships, noting that some haven’t wanted to share ideas and working practices in private ownership.

“I think one of the reasons public ownership is popular is people travelling on the railway want to regard it as a network, added Hendy.

“The want the same things to be consistent.”

Speaking about the transfer of c2c to public ownership, Hendy added: “It’s all gone smoothly. Trenitalia have been very collaborative.”

The next operators to be nationalised after Greater Anglia has not been confirmed. However, the DfT is aiming to announce a sequence of 2026 takeovers in the autumn.