NEW rail franchises in the region will expand the “great rail rip off”, the RMT union has claimed.

In an open letter to MPs RMT general secretary Mick Cash said to date the existing Northern Rail and TransPennine Express franchises had between them paid out just shy of £400m to shareholders.

He said this could have been used to pay for fairer fares, new trains and more staff.

Mr Cash also warned that shortlisted bidders for the new franchise contracts were owned by Dutch, French and German state railways meaning North rail passengers would be used as a “cash cow” to pay for services abroad.

The RMT is campaigning for a publicly owned “People’s Railway in the North” which it launched amid a series of protests at railway stations in the region, including Newcastle, today. (Tuesday, March 31)

It said this would mean every penny that was put into the railway would be invested in the railway, along with proper democratic oversight by communities and councils, instead of rail policy in the North being “dictated by private and foreign companies”.

Mr Cash said: "Jobs, services and safety across the North are threatened with the cash saved used to hold down fares and expand services in other parts of Europe.

“That is the insanity of this Government’s rail privatisation obsession laid bare and no politician of any party will be allowed by RMT to dodge the issue of public ownership as ?the [General] Election approaches."