Chiltern Rail Limited, trading as Chiltern Railways and GBR Chiltern, is a state-owned British train operating company that took over the services of the operator of the same name from Arriva UK Trains on 20 September 2026, when the latter's contract ended.
History In the lead up to the 2024 United Kingdom general election, the Labour Party of Keir Starmer committed itself to bring the passenger operations of the British rail network back under state ownership. Following its election in 2024, the government introduced the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 that received the royal assent in November 2024.
In March 2026, the Department for Transport announced that the contract for the privately-owned train operating company of the same name would end and DfT Operator would take over on 20 September 2026.
Chiltern Railways is expected to reinstate direct services between and , running twice daily on weekdays from 14 December 2026.
Services Chiltern Railways operates regular services on five routes.
The Chiltern Main Line is the core route for the majority of Chiltern Railways services and is one of two "mainline routes" operated by the company. The route links the major cities of London and Birmingham (Marylebone and Moor Street stations respectively), passing through the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwick and Solihull. Chiltern Railways operates trains along the entire line, services ranging from stopping suburban trains (e.g. London Marylebone – Gerrards Cross) to express trains running the full length of the line between London and Birmingham. The fastest timetabled journey from Birmingham to London by this route is 99minutes (compared with 82minutes using Avanti West Coast services between and via the West Coast Main Line). In addition to the Chiltern Railways services, CrossCountry also operates regular services on the line north of Banbury, and West Midlands Trains operates regular services north of .
The London–Aylesbury line is the second "mainline route" operated by the company. The route links London Marylebone with Aylesbury via Amersham. All Chiltern Railways services on this route run the full length of the line between Marylebone and Aylesbury stations and call at all stations north of Rickmansworth; most trains are extended one station further to Aylesbury Vale Parkway. Certain peak hour services skip some or all stations between Marylebone and Great Missenden. The line runs alongside London Underground's Metropolitan line between (just north of Marylebone station) and , each operator running on separate tracks. Beyond Harrow-on-the-Hill, the tracks are shared between Chiltern Railways and Metropolitan line services. This is an example of National Rail services using non-Network Rail tracks, and it uses a unique unregulated track-access agreement with London Underground. Beyond Amersham (where the Metropolitan line terminates), all services are operated by Chiltern Railways only.
The other three routes regularly served by the company are all branch lines. The Aylesbury–Princes Risborough line links Princes Risborough, on the Chiltern Main Line, with Aylesbury, on the London to Aylesbury Line. Most trains on the line continue beyond Princes Risborough to London Marylebone, which gives Aylesbury an alternative route to reach central London; however, a few services terminate at Princes Risborough. The Oxford–Bicester line branches off the Chiltern Main Line just south of Bicester and links the town with Oxford. The line is mostly served by express services to and from Marylebone. Until December 2016, the line terminated a few miles northeast of Oxford, at the nearby Oxford Parkway station; the line was then extended to the main Oxford station. The Leamington–Stratford line branches off the Chiltern Main Line at Hatton (a few miles west of Leamington Spa) and runs to Stratford-upon-Avon. The branch line is also operated by regular West Midlands Trains services.
As of May 2026, a simplified description of the routes served off-peak Monday to Friday are as follows: Chiltern Main LineRouteCalling at to London Marylebone to London Marylebone to BanburyLeamington Spa to Birmingham Moor StreetOxfordBicester lineRouteCalling atLondon Marylebone to LondonAylesbury and AylesburyPrinces Risborough linesRouteCalling atLondon Marylebone to High Wycombe Trains either call at West Ruislip or Denham Golf ClubPrinces Risborough to - Trains run irregularly with either hourly or 90 minute gapsLondon Marylebone to AylesburyLondon Marylebone to LeamingtonStratford lineRouteCalling atLeamington Spa to
Parliamentary trains
Chiltern Railways operates one parliamentary train service: Cherwell Valley line: there is a single daily parliamentary service operating on the Cherwell Valley line from to Banbury, operated by Chiltern Railways. This service runs on Tuesdays to Saturdays just after midnight and calls at , and - the three intermediate stations on the line. There is no corresponding return service heading towards Oxford. This service exists to maintain route knowledge for Chiltern Railways' drivers. Regular services on the line are operated by Great Western Railway and CrossCountry.
Rolling stock Chiltern Railways inherited the following trains from its predecessor:
Current fleet FamilyClassImageTypeTop speedNumberCarriagesRoutes operatedBuiltmphkm/h Networker DMU 75120 28 2 All Chiltern Railways services (apart from Chiltern Main Line services) 19901992 11 3 Bombardier Turbostar 100 160 5 4 Chiltern Main Line and some local services 1998 6 3 2000 2 4 3 3 2004 4 9 2 2000 Stadler UKLight Diesel-electric locomotive 8 N/A Chiltern Explorer services on the Chiltern Main Line 2014 CAF Mark 5A Chiltern Explorer Coach 125 200 52 5 Chiltern Explorer services on the Chiltern Main Line 20172018 Driving Trailer 14
Future fleet Future train types operated by Chiltern Railways include: +FamilyClassImageTypeTop speedNumberCarriagesRoutes operatedBuiltmphkm/hDMUCAF CivityDMU10016162East West Rail: to 20192020
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