Of all the public facilities, railways should be run by one central entity — it doesn’t really matter if it is a state or private body.

And if strikes, delayed engineering works, malfunctioning signals and poor infrastructure weren’t enough, the government has just announced a 2.3 percent rise in rail fares across the board.

I commute to work every day and, as things go, I’m luckier than most. Southeastern, which operates my service, is a little better than some of the other operators, although each time I climb the stairs from the car park I seem to be greeted by “Southeastern apologizes for …”, followed by the latest delay, excuse or cancellation.

Reasons offered include unruly passengers, ice, snow, rain, leaves on the line, missing train crew and, believe it or not, strong winter sunshine in the drivers’ eyes.

I’ve always loved trains, especially the mystery of steam. I confess to having a box full of Hornby Dublo model engines, those splendidly made electric models of the golden era of British steam. I have beautifully detailed models of the Flying Scotsman, the Duchess of Hamilton and designer Sir Nigel Gresley’s Mallard, a streamlined monster that set the world speed record for a steam engine in 1938 and that has never been beaten.

I suppose it goes back to my childhood in the 1950s, when my father would take my mother and his sister by car (a 1937 Austin 14) from Oxford to Hartlepool, while we boys would go with my uncle by steam train, changing at Darlington for the two-hour run to West Hartlepool.

What a trip — chocolate, pork pies, fizzy drinks and a fresh comic book for the journey. Boyhood heaven.

All that, of course, was spoiled by a gentleman called Dr Richard Beeching, whose 1963 report on the state of Britain’s railways resulted in a shortsighted slashing of 2,636 stations and 5,000 miles of track.

Britain’s rail recovered.

Since then, the nation’s rail network has become a political football. Of all the public facilities, railways should be run by one central entity — it doesn’t really matter if it is a state or private body.

After all, China, France and Germany, to name but a few places, all have one entity controlling their rail systems and their railways seem to work just fine.

Here, although the infrastructure is run by Network Rail, the services are run by a series of franchises awarded by the government, with varying degrees of success.

Try to buy a ticket and you will be faced with a bewildering array of choices.

No wonder many Britons opt to drive, overcrowding the motorways and adding to pollution. system has never