“This is the age of the train,” Jimmy Savile used to claim in a 1980s British Rail advertising campaign. Presumably, his donning a jogging tracksuit at the time was merely a precautionary measure.

He would certainly need alternative means of travel these days. Yet, even at the height of the genuine “Railway Age”, the service could be unreliable if not downright dangerous. Having narrowly escaped death in an accident near Staplehurst in January 1867, Charles Dickens felt compelled to write to The Times about the “perils” of the Leicester to London service.

For those who believe nationalised railways are preferable to the current shambles, it is worth examining the service BR offered in the mid-1950s, the last time it made a profit. It was also the last time it carried as many passengers as are now conveyed by the private companies.

In 1955, the safety record was diabolical. In January, a crash in Sutton Coldfield killed 14. In November, a derailment near Didcot killed 11. A fortnight later, a signal error caused another collision in which 13 died.

The absence of fatalities in the spring of that year was doubtless helped by the shutting down of the entire railway network between March 29 and June 14 by an Aslef strike. So successful was the union in messing up people’s lives that the Government was cajoled into declaring a State of Emergency. Yes, a State of Emergency.

Nor was 1955 the only bad year. For instance, 112 were killed in the Harrow train crash of 1952. Ninety were killed at Lewisham in 1957. By comparison, the Blair Government decided to force the privatised Railtrack into administration after the Hatfield crash killed four people. 1955 was also the year that a huge investment programme began, based, unfortunately, upon several wrong assumptions. Underpowered and unreliable diesels were commissioned. The wrong electrification system was assigned to the London Midland line and had to be replaced even before completion. The costs vastly overshot projections. Great delays ensued. Rail use continued to decline. Indeed, BR’s last passenger steam engines were not axed until 1968, by which time Japan’s “bullet” trains had been operational for four years.

Euston, we have long had a problem.

Times Recommends

• Obama is giving his party whiplash
• Mamma Mia, how can we resist them?
• This loyal soldier deserves promotion