'AFTER 20 years of the rail service being in private hands it is time to nationalise our public transport services to make it a true public service again.

Britain's rail fees are higher than any-other country in Europe yet can you really say that 'premium' we pay really ensures a higher quality method of travel, or is the extra profit really just going into the pockets of businessmen. For a few small years up until 2015 the East Coast Mainland line was run by the Government after the contracted company backed out, in this period the line reported the best ever record level of passenger satisfaction and also the best ever record in time keeping yet the UK government re-privatised the line in 2015.

This helps to consolidate the fact that a publicly owned system would be viable not only in a practical perspective but also from the viewpoint of the passengers.

The nationalisation would also allow for the small profit made from tickets to be re-invested into the lines and fleet of trains, this is similar to what occurs in Edinburgh with Lothian Buses which 1.80 ticket Adult ticket price allows for re-investment in the service, allowing Lothian Buses which is completely publicly owned between the four Lothian councils, to have one of the most modern bus fleets in the UK.

This again helps the case for a publicly owned rail network where the rail service could generate enough income to keep the service running properly and invest further in the lines. The fact is that people will never leave there cars behind and catch the train if something is not done about the current state of the service and the current price of train tickets, something needs to be done and in my opinion nationalising the rail service is the correct option and around 70% of the public agree with me according to a few polls conducted by yougov.

It's time that we see an end to single carriage trains running from Waverley to Fife at 4pm during the week, it's time that we see a fall in the astronomical ticket prices and final it's time that we seen our public transport service run in the interest of the public, not private businesses'.