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Labour will hand over control of the capital’s commuter rail lines to Transport for London if it wins the general election.

The worst suburban routes — including Southern Rail — would be devolved to Mayor Sadiq Khan, probably as soon as each franchise comes up for renewal.

The party’s leaked draft manifesto revealed plans to renationalise the railways but the details of how City Hall would run services in London is still being thrashed out.

Services in south-east London could be devolved as soon as next year, with those covering south-west areas following in 2020 and routes from London Bridge and Victoria transferring in 2021. Some concerns remain over routes which go beyond the capital’s boundaries and whether TfL has the capacity to run all the services.

Mr Khan, welcoming the proposal, said: “Millions of rail passengers continue to suffer a terrible service with constant delays and cancellations.

“Devolving suburban routes to TfL is the only viable long-term solution, which will mean frozen fares for passengers, fewer delays, fewer strikes, more trains and safer stations.”

He added: “The Tories have refused to act and have just buried their heads in the sand – unwilling to acknowledge the huge benefits rail devolution would provide.”

The Mayor revealed new analysis showing that over the past three months, six rush-hour Southern suburban routes were late or cancelled on average 72 per cent of the time, on Southeastern 81 per cent of the time, and on South West trains 78 per cent of the time.

Most Londoners, councils and MPs from all parties back devolution, however Transport Secretary Chris Grayling rejected Mr Khan’s bid earlier this year.