Rail union RMT demanded an urgent parliamentary inquiry yesterday into the “appalling racket” that has left most of Britain’s railway network under foreign state control.

Union research showed that 20 of Britain’s 27 private rail contracts are now run by foreign state-backed railways, with the vast majority being from France, Germany and the Netherlands.

“There must be a full parliamentary inquiry into this appalling racket,” RMT general secretary Mick Cash told the Morning Star.