Anyone hoping for a late conversion to the idea of renationalisation of the railways will be disappointed but there will be legislation to allow public service operators to challenge franchise holders, and a promise of more public control over the way privatised transport is run.
The rail franchising review is as expected, perhaps disappointing some who hoped Labour would go further towards renationalisation.
However, senior Labour sources made it clear the party was not in favour of renationalisation, signalling that the leadership was prepared to ignore the motions in its election manifesto.
The rumbling unrest over spending cuts that has swept the continent is accompanied, in France, however, by the very plausible chance that the Front National leader Marine le Pen could be elected president in 2017, on a platform that promises withdrawal from the EU, renationalisation of major industries, protectionist tariffs and more.
They want a big gesture: an ambitious council housing programme, renationalisation of the railways, scrapping Trident, something to grasp hold of – something that says: this is EdMilibandian.
But the government's record of managing expropriated firms does not bode well for YPF's future.Among the first moves Néstor Kirchner, Ms Fernández's late husband, made on becoming president in 2003 was the renationalisation of Correo Argentino, the country's postal service.
It is not clear whether the president's aim is renationalisation: she would find it hard to raise the funds, although her threats have depressed YPF's share price by 14% this year.
Russia's reputation is still recovering from the Kremlin's last backdoor appropriation the renationalisation of much of Yukos.
The American investment in Estonian Railways ended in acrimony and a more or less forced renationalisation.
Such hard geographical facts could lead to a "renationalisation" of defence decisions.
Officials claim that effective renationalisation will allow for better co-ordination (especially over annoying weekend closures of lines) and "greater flexibility".
