Spiralling fares, jam-packed trains and unfathomable ticket restrictions are just some of the problems rail users have to grapple with on a daily basis.

It’s understandable then why the finger is so often pointed at privatisation, especially in the wake of seemingly endless disasters such as the year-long Southern strikes and the failure of the East Coast Main Line franchise for the third time in a row.

The odd thing about the rail network today is that the companies that run our trains actually have very little control over the services they operate....