A great prize, but a great risk: why we all need the nationalised South Western Railway to work | Sarah Nankivell

South Western Railway is first train company to be nationalised under Labour government.

But critics will have their attack line ready: We told you nationalisation doesn't work just look at the trains’ Since privatisation, rail fares have risen by a fifth in real terms.

UK passengers pay five times as much per kilometre as those in France , where rail is publicly owned.

But if it is business as usual with a different logo, we’ll have squandered a once-in-a-generation opportunity to prove that public ownership works. The prize is enormous: affordable, reliable rail transport that serves communities rather than shareholders. The risk is equally significant: discrediting public ownership for years to come. Labour must get this right. - Sarah Nankivell is deputy director of Common Wealth.