Protesters will picket railway stations across Britain today to mark 20 years since the country's railways were sold off.

PM John Major threw the rail network on the bonfire on November 5 1993, pushing through a Railways Act that thrust British Rail into the hands of greedy privateers.

The private train operating companies are entirely reliant on public subsidies, with the top five receiving almost £3 billion from the Treasury between 2007 and 2011, according to research by the University of Manchester.