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DfT Operator Limited
Company type	Holding company
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	2018
Headquarters	London, England
Area served	England
Key people	Richard George (Chairman); Robin Gisby (CEO);
Services	Train operating company management
Revenue	£3.5 billion (2024)
Operating income	£29.4 million (2024)
Number of employees	16,700 (2024)
Parent	Department for Transport
Subsidiaries	London North Eastern Railway; Northern Trains; Southeastern; TransPennine Express;
Website	www.gov.uk/government/organisations/dft-operator-limited

DfT Operator Limited (DFTO), formerly DfT OLR Holdings Limited (DOHL), is a holding company established by the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom to act as operator of last resort for rail franchises in England that are nationalised.^[2]

History

DfT OLR Holdings was established in 2018 by the Department for Transport to operate rail franchises should it become necessary to bring them into public ownership and operate as an operator of last resort in accordance with section 30 of the Railways Act 1993.^[3] By May 2023, the company had four active subsidiaries: London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, Southeastern and TransPennine Express; and had superseded FirstGroup as the largest operator of passenger services in the United Kingdom, generating 23% of passenger revenue and 26% of passenger miles.^[4]

In the year ending March 2024, DfT OLR Holdings had 16,700 employees and revenue of £3.5 billion with an operating profit of £29.4 million.^[1]

In December 2024, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that the company's name was changing to DfT Operator Limited. This coincided with the announcement that three more passenger train services were to be brought into public ownership in 2025:^[5]

South Western Railway in March 2025
c2c in July 2025
Greater Anglia at a date to be determined

Subsidiaries

DFT Operator has a number of active and dormant subsidiaries.

London North Eastern Railway

On 24 June 2018, London North Eastern Railway took over the InterCity East Coast franchise from Virgin Trains East Coast after the latter ran into financial difficulty.^[6]^[7]

Train Fleet

Train Fleet (2019) Limited was established in August 2019 to take ownership of 40 Class 365 units from Eversholt Rail Group. This arose from a complex financial arrangement, struck during the privatisation of British Rail by the British Railways Board when the trains were financed by financial institutions, that gave Eversholt the option to pass on their lease liabilities back to the government.^[8]^[9] In July 2021, all were sold back to Eversholt after termination of their leases with Govia Thameslink Railway was agreed.^[10]

Northern Trains

On 1 March 2020, Northern Trains took over the Northern franchise from Arriva Rail North after the latter became financially unviable.^[11]^[12]

Southeastern

On 17 October 2021, Southeastern took over the South Eastern franchise from Govia after financial irregularities were uncovered.^[13]^[14]

TransPennine Express

On 28 May 2023, TransPennine Express took over the operation of Transpennine services after FirstGroup's TransPennine Express contract was not renewed after repeated customer complaints of poor service and cancelled trains, as well as having the highest rate of cancellations of any train operating company in January and February 2023 with about a quarter of services being cancelled.^[15]^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ending 31 March 2024" (PDF). Companies House. DfT OLR Holdings. 1 October 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
^ https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/dft-operator-limited/about
^ About us DfT OLR Holdings
^ "First last, or last first". Modern Railways. No. 897. June 2023. p. 6.
^ Alexander, Heidi (4 December 2024). "Written statement to Parliament: Public ownership: railway passenger services". Department for Transport. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
^ "Transport minister ends Virgin East Coast franchise". The Railway Magazine. No. 1407. June 2018. p. 7.
^ "LNER brand revived for East Coast". Rail Express. No. 266. July 2018. p. 10.
^ "Government takes ownership of Class 365 fleet". The Railway Magazine. No. 1422. September 2019. p. 105.
^ "DfT takes ownership of Class 365 fleet". Today's Railways UK. No. 214. October 2019. p. 69.
^ "Eversholt Rail regains Class 365 ownership". Railways Illustrated. No. September 2021. p. 13.
^ "Government takes over Northern franchise". Rail Express. No. 286. March 2020. p. 6.
^ "Arriva stripped of Northern franchise". Railways Illustrated. No. April 2020. p. 7.
^ "OLR taking over Southeastern". Modern Railways. No. 878. November 2021. pp. 8–9.
^ Lancefield, Neil (17 March 2022). "Govia slapped with £23.5m penalty over Southeastern scandal". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 17 March 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
^ "TransPennine Express loses contract over poor service". BBC News. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
^ Topham, Gwyn (11 May 2023). "TransPennine Express nationalised for catalogue of failings and poor service". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 May 2023.