Great British Railways’ first nationalised train, scheduled from Guildford at 02:27, is actually a £15.20 replacement bus due to engineering works. The rebranding, led by Heidi Alexander in Bournemouth, leaves both trainspotters and MPs pondering public transport’s ironies.

Collectors covet tickets for the inaugural service, but South Western Railway’s initial nationalised journey is all wheels, no rails. Labour’s Amanda Martin is ‘proud’ yet admits improvements will take time. Some passengers just want to stop checking if their train is a bus.

On launch day, the only scheduled South Western Railway service from Woking was a 05:36 bus—no actual train ran until later that morning.