Greens call for rail reform

The announcement comes as rail fares continue to rise with the cost of a local season ticket increasing by 25 per cent since 2010.

Green parliamentary candidates Gary Scott (Halifax) and Jenny Shepherd (Calder Valley) spoke to passengers at Halifax and Hebden Bridge stations about proposals to nationalise the railways in a move which they claim could cut fares by up to 12 per cent.

Ms Shepherd said: “The rail network is being run for the benefit of private corporations and clearly isn’t delivering for the public.”

The campaign to nationalise the railways has also received support from the Labour party who have similar proposals, but it has been dismissed as a step backwards by the Conservatives.

Philip Allott, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Halifax, said: “Rail nationalisation would be a mitigated disaster. Anybody who travelled on British Rail will remember the late trains, the dirty carriages, unruly staff and the appalling state of the rolling stock, and will surely have the common sense not to want a return to that.”