Go-op, which hopes to launch co-operatively owned rail services between Taunton and Swindon, says it has until May to secure funding.
Launched in November 2024, Go-op was set to be the UK’s first co-op rail operator, with plans to run services between Swindon, Taunton, and Weston-Super-Mare.
It promised more train services on an underserved route, as well as a different kind of ownership model: 50% owned by consumers, 25% by workers, and the rest by social investors.
But when railway regulators offered Go-op track access rights up to 2030, this came with several conditions: namely, that Go-op would need to secure £3.6m worth of funding by May 2026 and launch services by December of this year, or else lose its track access. Following several unsuccessful fundraising attempts over the years, including a public share offering and a crowdfunder, the co-op is running short of time.
Go-op says there is “now one last chance” for investors to get involved and save the co-operative.
“The business case is as strong as ever,” operations director Alex Lawrie told Railway Gazette, “and we’ve not held back from offering strong returns on investment – keystone investors have the opportunity to double their money.
“But the fact of the matter is that with time running out for delivery of the new services, we’re hearing from investors large and small that factors outside Go-op’s control are making it impossible for them to commit to the investment that is required.”
With the Labour government looking to gradually re-nationalise passenger train services by 2027 as private contracts expire, Lawrie said “an impression of government hostility to future open access rail” has “drowned out the actual support from the Department for Transport for this particular service”.
Go-op added that a variety of factors, from underinvestment to industrial disputes, have “severely damaged” rail’s reputation – and that “hidden structural biases” in business funding have created “unnecessary obstacles” for the co-op.
“Investors that recognise the inherent strengths of rail as mode of transport,” said Lawrie, “and respond to the specific strengths of this proposal rather than historic impressions of the whole industry, will find a fundamentally sound proposition.
“Regardless of the outcome of this particular contract, Go-op will continue to work towards public transport that is accountable to its users; and will explore more innovative approaches to mobilising investment in the Taunton – Swindon corridor.”
