Rail expert Christian Wolmar demanded renationalisation yesterday in a stinging attack on the profits creamed from Britain’s network by foreign state-owned operators.

As ticket price rises kicked in for 2015 the transport commentator branded the current set-up “completely unfair” and said franchises should be taken back into public hands.

And foreign state-backed companies that run three-quarters of Britain’s rail franchises are using profits paid for by British passengers to improve services and cut fares in their own countries, the Campaign group Action for Rail (AfR) warned.