Grant Shapps has a sensible rail policy – the only thing he can’t do is make tickets cheaper

The transport secretary might be able to do the difficult job of pleasing both the nationalisers and the privatisers, writes John Rentoul

Grant Shapps hasn’t gone as far as reimagining the entire infrastructure of the country (PA)

Something for everyone. Grant Shapps, the incredible two-headed politician, has just announced the renationalisation of the railways and the fix that will finally make privatisation work. Everybody is happy and nobody need ever mention trains again – until the fares next go up.

What no one wants to hear is the truth, which is that rail privatisation has been a success, but the company that owned the network, Railtrack, was renationalised in 2002.

Since then, the part-privatised system has worked pretty well too. Privatisation halted the decline in passenger numbers, which have risen hugely since and continued to rise after the partial renationalisation of the tracks and stations.