Last Sunday, Greater Anglia entered public ownership as part of the government’s pledge to renationalise the railways. The transfer means half of UK train operators are now owned by the state.

It’s a move the public may welcome, given longstanding majority support for renationalising the railways. Unlike some other nationalisations, though, this isn’t a story of an ailing train operator disappointing customers with cancellations and poor service. Just last week, Greater Anglia was named Rail Operator of the Year – and YouGov BrandIndex data may back up this strong reputation. 

But how does Greater Anglia’s perception among its “home” market of the East of England stack up against another franchise soon to enter public ownership – West Midlands Railway – among its “home” market)? Greater Anglia’s Index score (a measure of overall brand health) among consumers in the East of England is 8.7, a little ahead  of West Midlands Railway among those in the Midlands. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. 

Impression scores, which measure general positive and negative sentiment, sit at 15.5 for Greater Anglia. For West Midlands Railway (WMR)  these scores are 12.0 – giving Greater Anglia a 3.5 point lead. The difference is comparable when it comes to Quality scores: (Greater Anglia 8.8; WMR 4.7) and Recommend scores (12.6 vs. 9.6). 

Where Greater Anglia particularly stands out is customer happiness: Satisfaction scores are at 19.7 -  full 5.6 points ahead of WMR’s score of 14.1.

So if a privatised Greater Anglia is well-regarded, what improvements might be targeted under public ownership? The one major area where it underperforms is in perceptions of Value for Money (-11.5 among East of England consumers, compared to -0.9 for WestMidlands Railway among locals). It’s an area where the Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has pledged to deliver, while stopping short of saying that fares will actually decrease. Will train travellers in the East of England be any happier with a state-owned Greater Anglia – especially given that they already quite like the service? 

This article originally appeared in City AM