South Western Railway will be the first rail operator to be renationalised by the Labor government, according to reports.
Labor has pledged to renationalise train services as operator franchises end and South Western's contract ends in May 2025.
Control of the railway will be handed over to the operator of last resort, the body that runs the renationalised train services, the Financial Times reported.
The government passed legislation towards the end of November allowing it to restore public ownership of rail contracts.
Responsibility for operating rail services was handed over to private companies in the 1990s, and since then there has been a boom in the use of rail.
But a number of them have faced criticism over pricing and reliability, with critics saying privatization has led to an inefficient and fragmented system.
Labor has pledged in a manifesto to renationalise most rail services within five years.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the government has effectively taken control of the railways.
Most train companies in England have contracts whereby they charge a fixed fee for running their services, and the financial risk is borne by the taxpayer.
Four major operators – East Coast Mainline, TransPennine, Northern and South Eastern – have been placed under public control and are run by the government's operator of last resort.
Transport for Wales was brought under the control of the Welsh Government in 2021 and Scotrail was taken over by the Scottish Government the following year.
South Western Railway has over 1,500 scheduled services every weekday across South West London and the South of England.
It operates over a wide area of southern England and East Anglia and is a key commuter service to London.
