4 Sunday Times headlines on rail travel:

1. 280,000 commuters have to stand every day on crowded trains.

2. FirstGroup reaped a £50m dividend from Great Western Railway last year, thanks in part to government payouts for disruption on the line. The dividend climbed from £40m a year earlier, as profits were boosted by payments from state-owned track operator Network Rail for hold-ups to line upgrades and maintenance.

3. HS2: The cost of the new rail line is expected to rise from £56bn to about £80bn.

r. … all is far from well at HS2. The future of the new north-south rail line — Europe’s biggest infrastructure project — has been thrown into doubt. One of Boris Johnson’s first acts as prime minister was to launch a review. Soaring costs and repeated scandals have made the line a key target for Johnson and his closest aide, Dominic Cummings.

NINE years of Tory privatisation …