Britain's railway stations would be brought back under public control under a new plan from Network Rail.

The infrastructure company has proposed stripping private train companies of responsibility for managing stations.

Anthony Smith, the national director of the Rail Passengers Council, welcomed the proposals. “The train operators don’t have a long-term interest in doing up stations.

As a result, many of them are falling to bits,” he said. “If you only owned a flat for seven years, you would be unlikely to install a new bathroom.”

Meanwhile, a Populus poll for the Times today shows that more than half the public (52 per cent) say that their impression of public transport remains bad.