Heidi Alexander unveils first Great British Railways train in Brighton

Heidi Alexander unveiled the first great british railways-branded train in Brighton on 21 May 2026, putting the new name and livery on a Class 387 operated by Southern. The train carries a red, white and blue design as the brand begins appearing on services, stations and staff uniforms.

Alexander said: "The unveiling of the first GBR-branded train in Brighton today makes the future of Britain’s railways a reality." Govia Thameslink Railway will join the growing publicly owned network on 31 May 2026, extending the rollout beyond the first train.

Brighton and the GBR rollout

The Brighton unveiling is the first visible step in the wider Great British Railways branding effort. The change is being introduced gradually, rather than all at once, across stations, staff uniforms and trains.

For passengers, the practical shift is that the network is moving under a single public identity while services continue to change operator by operator. South Western Railway entered public ownership one year before the Brighton launch, and the new branding arrives ahead of the first anniversary of that transfer.

Govia Thameslink Railway joins

Govia Thameslink Railway’s move into the publicly owned network on 31 May 2026 adds another operator to the system carrying the GBR name. The public ownership rollout is also tied to performance already reported inside the Department for Transport network, where publicly owned operators have averaged better punctuality and cancellations than those not yet under DfT Operator Limited ownership.

Around 8 in 10 passenger rail journeys that Great British Railways will ultimately be responsible for will take place on publicly owned services. Passengers are already benefiting from the first freeze in rail fares in 3 decades, giving the branding launch a direct link to what riders pay as the network changes around them.

Public ownership and fares

The route ahead is a gradual one: the GBR name will spread across the rail system as more services move into public ownership, with Brighton marking the first train carrying the new identity. For passengers, the immediate change is visual, but the larger shift is structural, with more of the network passing into the publicly owned side of the system.