Liverpool city region Mayor Steve Rotheram says he intends to take Merseyrail back into public control by 2028… but its private operator insists no decision has been made claiming the current concession could be extended. Tony McDonough reports
Merseyrail’s privately-owned operator has thrown doubt over Liverpool city region Mayor Steve Rotheram’s plans to take local train services back under public control.
Since the current 25-year concession began in 2003, shareholders of Merseyrail’s private operator have pocketed more than £260m in dividend windfalls, £70m in the last two years alone.
However, in July Mr Rotheram stated he would bring an end to the gravy train when the concession expires in 2028 and take Merseyrail services back under public control. He also already started that process with the city region’s bus network.
“We’ve already introduced the country’s first publicly owned train fleet in a generation, delivered new rail stations, taken back control of our buses, rolled out tap-and-go ticketing and started laying the foundations for a rapid transit network,” he said.
“Now we have the opportunity to take back control of our trains too.”
However, writing in Merseyrail’s annual accounts, posted on Companies House in late September, Merseyrail finance director Christopher Maher insisted no definite decision had been made.
He said: “As the existing concession progresses towards its later years, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA, as contracting authority, is considering a range of potential future operating arrangements.
“These include, but are not limited to, a competitive re-procurement process, transition to an in-house operating model or the extension of the current contractual arrangements. The company is engaging constructively with LCRCA as part of this process.
“These discussions have progressed beyond the initial exploratory stage, although no decisions or agreed direction have been reached at the reporting date. Accordingly, no agreements have been finalised that would alter the existing contractual framework.”
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LBN contacted the Combined Authority which insisted it was “committed to bringing the network back into public control”. It added the comments in the Merseyrail document “doesn’t reflect the CA’s current position”.
Known as Merseyrail Electrics 2002, the company has two shareholders – Serco Group and Transport UK. The latter business was created in August 2022 following a UK-led management buyout of Abellio, the overseas division of Netherlands Railways.
Merseyrail operates 613 train services every day Monday to Saturday and 375 on Sundays. During 2025 an average of 86,000 individual journeys by passengers were recorded adding up to 31m across the year.