Not unless the private train company’s owners have the freedom to adjust fares accordingly. Any kind of government control on fares would be a death knell. And, you know the government would be heavy-handed on the fares allowed to be charged.
Under government control I could go from near Scotland to near Dover on an open return for £80.
Under the privatised service the same tickets cost £260.
Now it’s back in the last resort umbrella, it’s £160 at short notice and under £100 if booked in advance.
Subsidies and costs haven’t changed. The rolling stock is the same. The only thing we’re missing (or not!) is a markup so ludicrous it got cheaper to fly to anywhere in western Europe than take a 400 mile round trip to London by train.
It was so expensive I started getting trains to London on a Sunday and staying full board in a London hotel because it was cheaper than getting the first train.