I recently listened to an archive clip on the radio that consisted primarily of people whingeing about the railways.

Amongst the biggest complaints was about dirty trains and u reliability of services and there was widespread hope that things were about to get better.

It all sounds familiar but the clip was from 1961 and came as the nationalised UK rail network was about to make the momentous move from steam to diesel.

Fast forward more than 60 years and things haven’t really changed that much, apart from no-one today will moan about the problem of soot making the stations dirty.

British Rail had many good points, not least the fine dining carriages, but in the end it became a national joke.

But it appears the Labour Government has no recollection of BR’s faults as it embarks on the renationalising of the network.

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Even the name - Great British Railways - harks back to a glorious bygone age that many argue didn’t actually exist.

Regardless, it is happening but will it make a difference?

History tells us it won’t and will almost certainly make things worse.

Scotrail, of course, was nationalised in 2022 but you’ll be hard pressed to find a passenger who will say with a straight face that things have improved.

Under Labour’s plan, three rail operators will be taken into state control next........

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