Labour's First Renationalised Train Service Gets Off To A Hilarious Start
South Western Railway (SWR) officially came under public ownership at around 2am on Sunday morning as part of the government's promise to create 'better services'.
The first service of the day – normally be the 2.27am train from Guildford to Waterloo – was cancelled.
So that meant the pressure was on the 5.36am service from Woking to London Waterloo to mark the historic occasion.
But any jubilation from the occasion quickly evaporated when the journey had to rely on a rail replacement bus service between two stops, Surbiton and Clapham Junction.
It turns out that bank holiday engineering works had overrun meaning the train was no longer able to go down the intended track.
But Keir Starmer seemed to overlook the embarrassment this morning, claiming on social media that his new public ownership scheme was 'just the start'.
'After decades of Tory failure, our Plan for Change will put passengers first, as promised. That will mean better services, with simpler ticketing, on more comfortable trains,' the prime minister wrote on X.
The Department for Transport also promoted the 'historic' occasion, claiming it 'kicks off a reset of the railways to improve performance and boost economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.'
Despite this government spin, many people were quick to complain – including Liberal Democrat MP Monica Harding.
'This is hardly the fresh start my constituents in Esher and Walton were promised,' she wrote on X. 'Let's hope SWR under government control gets better than this!'
First day of SWR's renationalisation and all trains from stations in Hersham, Hampton Court, Thames Ditton, Esher, Hinchley Wood, Claygate and Walton on Thames to London Waterloo are replaced by buses - a rail replacement service!This is hardly the fresh start my constituents… pic.twitter.com/W43Z7XiAwO
— Monica Harding MP (@monicabeharding) May 25, 2025
Others, of course, wasted no time in finding the hilarity of the situation.
One can only chuckle at the irony: the first newly nationalised train service was…a rail replacement bus! pic.twitter.com/UpNlPk7jWp
— Andy Saunders 🇺🇦 (@1940Andy) May 25, 2025
South Western Railway starts as it means to carry on in public ownership as very first service is a replacement bus, (We didn't' even need to make this up) pic.twitter.com/xuPYAslPJn
— The Rotherham Bugle (@Rotherhambugle) May 25, 2025
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