PASSENGERS and staff will call time on the failed privatisation of Britain’s railways today — as it emerged fares have risen nearly three times faster than wages.

As campaigners picket stations across the country this morning, a new study from the Action for Rail campaign revealed that so-called “regulated” fares have increased by 25 per cent since 2010 — while average pay went up by just 9 per cent.

Rail union RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “That’s the price of two decades of rail privatisation, and the whole rotten business needs to be swept away and replaced by a public railway under public control.”

Action for Rail’s report reveals that government plans to cap annual fare rises will amount to a taxpayer subsidy of £700 million for transport fat-cats.

But it says tickets could be 10 per cent cheaper by 2017 if private railways were taken back into public ownership as franchises expire — a policy favoured by Labour leadership frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn.

The group says a £1.5 billion saving from taking routes including the West Coast main line — currently operated by Richard Branson’s Virgin — and the Northern and Transpennine routes could be used to slash ticket prices.

A third of this saving would come from snatching back dividends that would be paid to shareholders under the private system.

Mr Corbyn’s centrist opponent Andy Burnham, who is said to be in second place, is instead calling for the state to be allowed to bid against privateers for the franchises — a pledge made in Labour’s failed 2010 and 2015 manifestos.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady warned the government’s plan for a cap was “simply passing the bill on to taxpayers.”

“If ministers really want to help hard-pressed commuters they need to return services to the public sector,” she said.

“This is a fair, more sustainable option and it would allow much bigger savings to be passed on to passengers.”

Drivers’ union Aslef leader Mick Whelan, who will join a demonstration at London Waterloo this morning, branded the fare rises of recent years “continual, excessive and unreasonable.”

Campaigners in Norfolk argue that rural residents struggling to make ends meet will be hit especially hard.

“People are being forced to look further afield for employment which pays enough to live on, so rail transport becomes a necessity, not a luxury,” said trade unionist Jo Rust, who will join a demonstration outside King’s Lynn station.

Mr Cash added: “While train companies threaten to throw guards off their services and axe station staff who are essential for safety, turning the network into a paradise for criminals and yobs, they are milking the travelling public for all they can through extortionate fares.”

Campaigners will hand out postcards for passengers to send to their MPs calling on them to support renationalisation.