South Western Railway (SWR) has been nationalised in what has been called a "generational opportunity", but questions are being asked on how the change will affect commuters.

As of this morning, the operator that runs trains across Hampshire and Southampton Central station has transferred to public ownership and will be run by a subsidiary of the Department for Transport.

It is the first railway service to do so as part of the Passenger Railways Service (Public Ownership) Act 2024.

The Act, which was passed in November last year, will eventually bring all 14 national operators under public control when existing contracts expire by the end of 2027.

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Operators and Network Rail will be consolidated into one public organisation, Great British Railways (GBR).

As services were nationalised today, the Department for Transport confirmed that the transfer does not impact planned journeys, tickets or timetables.

All current SWR tickets will remain valid.

The move ends nearly 30 years of privatisation and the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander MP, called the transfer a "generational moment".

She said: "Today is a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers.

"We have a generational opportunity to restore national pride in our railways and I will not waste it."

Lawrence Bowman, managing director of SWR, said: "I’m excited to join and lead the excellent team at SWR, who come to work every day to deliver the best possible service for our customers and moving into public ownership will make it easier for them to do so."

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DfT Operator Ltd (DFTO) will manage SWR's services as a subsidiary of the Department for Transport.

DFTO will manage all train companies when they move into public ownership before being consolidated under GBR.

A spokesperson for DFTO said: "The government’s vision is to provide a railway that works better for both passengers and taxpayers across Great Britain.

"DFTO’s purpose is to help deliver on this by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership."