Why did the Populist Party want the government to own railroads and telegraph and tele - phone systems?

T he Populist Party urges the government to own the railroads as well as the telegraph and telephone systems primarily because these infrastructures were run by large companies in monopoly. As a result, they were being charged at unfairly high rates. Thus, they wanted the government to step in and ensure that the citizens are provided with the necessary utilities at fair prices.