As someone who has been fortunate enough to travel to much of Europe, I have been able to experience the joys and pleasures of publicly-owned rail travel, from Catalonia to Croatia to Czechia, a right which, in this country, was stripped from us in the 1990s. Systems that were intended for – and continue to serve – workers, tourists, and travellers in each country are run cleanly, quickly, and cheaply, often with direct connections to local transport systems, such as buses or trams.