The UK government has announced the first three railway companies to be nationalised as part of its plan to bring rail services into public ownership.
South Western Railway will be nationalised in May, followed by c2c in July and Greater Anglia in the autumn, according to the Department for Transport (DfT).
The government said the move would reduce delays and cancellations, improve services, and redirect £150 million in passenger fares from shareholder profits to operations.
Railway nationalisation was a key Labour election pledge.
Currently, private firms like Trenitalia operate services under contracts. Under the new system, taxpayers will no longer compensate companies.
Southwestern Railways is a joint venture between FirstGroup (70%) and MTR (30%), C2C is run by Italian group Trenitalia while Greater Anglia is run by Transport UK.
Shares in FirstGroup PLC (LSE:FGP) were flat at 152.2p.