Why not privatise public transport? Here's why not

British commuters pay up to five times more than rail passengers on the Continent, a study has found.

While an annual season ticket from Hemel Hempstead to London costs £2,504 for a 23-mile journey, the equivalent would cost just £510 in Berlin.

The news emerges after the Government announced price increases above the inflation rate. On some London commuter routes up to one out of every four trains runs late. It is also thought that further increases are in the pipeline.

Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, argued that the private companies involved in the rail network were siphoning off profit and ensuring that rail fares in Britain were higher than in most Continental countries. "The Rail privateers are taking out a billion pounds a year from the railways and £2m a week from the Tube - is it any wonder that commuters are paying through the nose for season tickets?" he said. "Commuters in countries where the railways remain in public hands pay a fraction of season ticket costs here. The time has come to draw the line under privatisation and bring our rail and Tube back into the public sector."