The Welsh government announced Thursday that it has decided to nationalise its railways due to tumbling passenger numbers during the coronavirus pandemic. The devolved administration's transport authority Transport for Wales (TfW) said in a statement that it has decided to take charge of the Wales and Borders service with effect from February. The franchise is currently operated by KeolisAmey, which was awarded a 15-year contract in 2018 and is a joint venture between French transport group Keolis and Spanish-owned firm Amey. "The last few months have been extremely challenging for public transport in Wales and across the UK," Welsh transport minister Ken Skates said. "Covid has significantly impacted passenger revenues and the Welsh government has had to step in with significant support to stabilise the network and keep it running. "We have decided to transfer day-to-day rail services to a new publicly-owned subsidiary of Transport for Wales." The news comes on the eve of a full "firebreak" lockdown for two weeks in Wales, which is seeking to combat a soaring number of new Covid-19 infections. Rail transport has come under fierce commercial pressures from the pandemic, as virus-fearing commuters and travellers remain at home. In turn, that has slashed ticket revenues and profits -- and sparked state interventions. Earlier this year, Britain handed further financial support to the country's struggling privatised railway sector, with the pandemic signalling the end of a franchise system that existed for nearly a quarter of a century. While UK train services will continue to be run mainly by private companies, franchising will be replaced by Emergency Recovery Management Agreements (ERMA), the UK government announced in September after the virus slashed nationwide passenger demand by 95 percent. The announcement marked the first major sector-wide overhaul since British Rail was privatised in the mid-1990s by the Conservative government. jbo-rfj/dl