Transport is the business of us all and should not have been stolen for the sole benefit of shareholders.

Douglas Cook, Penzance

The Tories run the East coast main line as LNER. Bring back BRITISH RAIL.

Colin Flowerday, Holt

Over-crowded trains, unreliable services, staff cuts, rising prices regardless of the quality or level of service, so time that this was addressed.

Debbie Gibson, Leeds

Stop subsidising private companies and use the money to run our rail system more efficiently.

Elizabeth Bentley, London

The cost of rail fares now is so expensive I can no longer afford to travel.

Debby Poole, Stoke-on-Trent

East Coast line making a profit for the country and yet they want to privatise it – where is the common sense in that?

James Hurst, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

The idea of competition when there are fixed routes makes little sense. The public subsidy to all the lawyers and spivs involved is wasteful.

Paul Marchant, Leeds

It makes good economic and ecological sense to re-nationalise the railways.

Anna Coles, Canterbury

Let’s have a national railway system that works as an inexpensive and real alternative to car and air travel. It makes sense on all sorts of levels.

Jane Angel, Edinburgh

A sense of shared ownership would encourage train usage.

Linda Baker, Brighton

The only way forward for our railways is in the public sector as a non profit company. No greedy shareholders and over-paid directors to cream off the profits.

Robin Lenox, Whippingham, Isle of Wight

Better a public than a private monopoly.

Robin Holden, Chipping Norton

The idea that essential national infrastructure should be owned by publicly unaccountable overseas private organisations is absurd on a fundamental level.

Phillip Bevin, Surbiton

I hate Virgin and First.

Rowan Crawshaw, Caernarfon

Long journeys using more than one train company are hell. These competing train companies are by nature disinclined to co-operate, directly disadvantaging the traveller.

Alfie Venner Woodcock, London

Although not frequent, I am a regular train user, mainly between York and London and occasionally other destinations.

Eileen Jaques, York

It cost taxpayers more while private companies maintain a good profit. Put all revenue back into the rail network, with the same systems of oversight.

Michael Hurst, Manchester

As a foreigner who now lives in the UK, I still cannot believe how expensive (and otherwise capitalist) trains in the UK are, and that the British people let this happen.

Jeff Hemmen, London

I rarely use rail travel because I find it chaotic and expensive. I wouldn’t mind that so much if it was good old British Railways muddling through.

John Parr, Fakenham

Let’s do this and end the monopoly.

Jim Tait, Edinburgh

Bringing British Rail back into the public domain is a no brainer. A state owned system would cost less and profits would go to the nation.

David Bacon, Sheffield

The process of purchasing train tickets and trying to find the best price is an absolute nightmare, especially if a journey involves two different networks.

Karen Scrimshaw, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

For all our sakes – and the environment – let’s have our national rail service back.

John Wakefield, Stone

We need railways that are owned by the state and public passengers and freight. They should never have got rid of British Rail and we want it back.

Garreth Maguire, Prestatyn

We deserve the best railway in the world.

Steve Smyth, Stonehouse

Railways for travellers, not for shareholders.

Barry Barker, Stoke-on-Trent

I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to help re-nationalise British Railways for a while now.

Malcolm Tedd, Oadby

So we gave it a go and it failed us all. Bring back British Rail.

Jamie Robertson, London