"The committee's report is an indictment of the private sector's inability to operate the railways as a public service," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"The private train operators cannot see beyond the interests of their shareholders, and operate pricing policies aimed simply at maximising revenues and profits.

"Rail fares policy ought to be harnessed to encourage a modal shift from car to train and, above all, that means making them affordable.

"Our own submission to the committee showed how privatisation has left standard fares and travelcards in Britain vastly more expensive than elsewhere in Europe, and that at holiday times it is all-but impossible for families to get a cheap fare deal

"The private sector has proved itself as unwilling or incapable of operating a fair fares policy as it is of putting adequate staff on stations.

"As long as the private-sector monopolies remain unchecked, the government will be unable to meet its manifesto commitments on integrated transport or the environment.

"The committee's conclusions that the privatised railway has put revenue and profit before passengers for a decade, and that the government must act to force rail operators to operate a single, simple and affordable fares structure will be welcomed by rail workers and passengers alike.

"Bringing rail operations back into the public sector would put an end to the profiteering once and for all, and would end the siphoning of billions of tax-payers' pounds into shareholders' pockets," Bob Crow said.