Swingeing rail fare hikes across the UK today have prompted fresh calls for the renationalisation of the railways, a policy that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has championed. But 72pc of rail franchises are already backed by the state – just not ours. Analysis by The Daily Telegraph shows that 18 out of 25 rail franchises are currently run by foreign state-backed operators, and that number is set to rise.

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association said that “money made out of passengers here is [being] invested in fare subsidies” abroad.

He added: "Every year UK passengers are forced to pay more to Holland, Germany, France and Italy all of whom currently own our train operating companies. Yet, it's all talk and no trousers when it comes to taking back control from the foreign companies who own large swathes of our infrastructure including our railways."

Who runs the railways?

Almost 90pc of the 1.73bn passenger journeys taken in the UK in the financial year 2016-17 were with mostly foreign state-backed rail operators from across Europe, according to analysis by The Daily Telegraph.

The largest of these is Govia, a joint venture between UK transport company Go Ahead Group and Keolis, which is backed by France’s state-owned rail operator SNCF as well as Canadian public pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.