The
number


of
people
employed
in
the
administration
of
DfT
Operator,
which
runs
nationalised
passenger
operators,
is
set
to
rise
from
25
to
100
by
the
end
of
the
coming
year.
DfTO
was
known
as
the
Department
for
Transport’s
Operator
of
Last
Resort
until
last
month.

Alex
Hynes,
the
director-general
at
DfT
Rail
Services
Group,
told
MPs
on
the
Commons
Transport
Committee
that
DfT
Operator
would
be
increasing
in
size
to
deal
with
the
growing
workload
caused
by
the
nationalisation
of
three
more
former
franchises
during
2025,
following
the
passing
of
the
Passenger
Railway
Services
(Public
Ownership)
Act
at
the
end
of
November,
which
means
that
renationalisation
is
no
longer
the
last
resort
but
the
default
option.

Four
DfT
contracts
have
already
been
returned
to
public
ownership
since
2018,
when
the
Virgin
Trains
East
Coast
franchise
failed
and
was
replaced
by
LNER.

Since
then
the
contracts
for
Northern,
Southeastern
and
TransPennine
Express
have
also
been
terminated,
as
well
as
Caledonian
Sleeper,
ScotRail
and
Transport
for
Wales,
which
are
now
run
by
the
devolved
governments.

The
next
in
line
is
South
Western
Railway
in
May
2025,
followed
by
c2c
in
July
and
Greater
Anglia
in
the
autumn.
The
remaining
seven
contracts
still
in
the
private
sector
are
expected
to
have
ended
by
2027.
After
that,
the
only
private
sector
passenger
operators
will
be
those
with
open
access
licences,
such
as
Grand
Central
and
Hull
Trains.
New
open
access
operations
are
due
to
start
soon,
and
further
applications
are
now
being
considered
by
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road.