Privatisation benefited the very people who controlled the government that was in power at the time and we are now sadly seeing the results.

Mike Friend

I’m sick of paying over the odds for what is often a very poor service.

Deborah Evans, York

I’d love to see the old 91s and also the old locos back and also nice to see some new BR AC/DC locos.

Luca Jeffery, Rotherham

Public ownership for public services.

Elliott Clark, Crawley

The fragmented privatised railway is still paid for by the taxpayer, yet is so inefficient that it costs three times what BR cost. It’s time to give us back our national railway.

Philip Davis, Birmingham

Fares highest in the world.

Kevin Larkin, Bristol

They should never have been privatised in the first place as it has now become an inefficient way of running the railway.

Michelle Doidge, Worcester

Bring the railways back under state control and provide a better service to passengers.

Ian Roberts, Telford

Railways are a national asset and work best in public ownership.

Simone Abram, Sheffield

The Green Party idea of picking up the franchises as they become available and building British Rail back up is an absolute winner.

David Miller, Durham

Return our railways to public ownership.

Oliver Steward, Norwich

We must bring the railways back under public ownership to stand a chance of bringing fares down to an acceptable level.

John Steggles, Bedford

When they brought in the new Railways why have it all split up with one company owning the tracks and another the stations etc. Bring it back under public ownership.

David Humphreys, Wrexham

Bring back reasonably-priced rail fares. Stop the profit-making and re-invest in modern rolling stock.

William Earle, Scunthorpe

Why are we paying taxes? Give back our infrastructure.

Andrew Day, London

We should be supporting our rail network not other ones in Europe.

Kevin Spice, Maidstone

Rail privatisation – made for ideological reasons and to remove subsidies from government funds. Now subsidies are higher than before. I.

Gareth Gwyn-Jones, Barnet

The HST (125) had a perfect safety record under BR. Within a few years of privatisation, profit before safety, there were two crashes in London with massive fatalities.

Glenn Richards, Wotton-under-Edge

Just watch Caroline Lucas’s and Ellie Harrison’s You-tube clips from my party conference. They’re excellent. Reducing fares by 18% would help to make train travel affordable.

Andy Blanchflower, Gateshead

Put passengers before profits. We’re the only country in Europe that has a privately-run national railway network, with poor governmental control and ‘toothless’ regulators.

James Andrew Robson, Leeds

This should be done after the next general election. Bring back British Rail – that would make jobs and be better for everyone.

Graham Bowden, Ashford, Kent

I commute every day and the service is awful. I’m delayed on a nearly daily basis but because the delays are for less than 30 minutes it means I’m not entitled to compensation.

Martina Lednicka, Gravesend

I am really fed up about the sky-rocketing price of train tickets brought about by the “free market” model. My family are scattered and can rarely afford to get together.

Barb Sheppard, Windermere

There are too many outside contractors. It’s a real mess and needs sorting out.

Richard Lee, Liverpool

The name says it all.

William Watts, Reading

The heart of the railway is the people, but privatisation has put profits and shareholders first. We need British Rail back to run services for the people.

Gavin Edwards, London

Stop destroying our magnificent railways and heritage just to make a financial killing.

Bill Porter, Liverpool

Having worked for BR as a signalman for 20 years, I have seen our railway system slowly deteriorate into the shambles it is now.

Bruce Williams, Dyffryn

I want a nationalised railway that uses public money to provide a service for the public – not to make profits for company shareholders.

Deborah McIlveen, Oxford

Bring back British Rail. A unified railway is a good railway.

Jason Warner, Raunds