HALF of all train journeys are now under public ownership after London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway services were brought under the state-owned Great British Railways today.

Transport unions welcomed the move but insisted outsourced workers must not be left behind.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Bringing these services back into public ownership is welcome, but it is not right that outsourced staff will not enjoy the benefits of being brought into Great British Railways.

“The Labour government has committed to delivering the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation and that promise must now be honoured.

“Outsourced cleaning, catering and other front-line jobs should be brought in-house, ending this super-exploitation that has driven down pay, worsened conditions and led to huge amounts of money leaking out of the industry into shareholders’ pockets.

“A publicly owned integrated railway should directly employ the staff who keep it running, reinvesting money back into services instead of leaking it out in private profit to unscrupulous private contractors.”

Train drivers’ union Aslef also welcomed the milestone. A spokesman said: “That means that from today half of all rail journeys that will fall under GBR’s remit are operated by publicly owned companies.”

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “The thousands of passengers who travel with London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway will be using services that are owned by the public and run with their interests at heart.

“We’re working hard to reform a fragmented system and deliver a reliable railway that regenerates communities, rebuilds the trust of its passengers and delivers the high standards they rightly expect.”