HALF of all calls to National Rail Enquiries (NRES) will be answered in India following a £100m contract agreed yesterday.

The Association of Train Operating Companies said BT and Ventura had won the five-year contracts from April.

The move, which was first suggested in October, could have meant the loss of up to 300 jobs at its Newcastle call centre, one of four across the country which handles NRES calls.

But yesterday it emerged that BT's calls will be answered by its partner ClientLogic, at Newcastle, as well as by centres in Derby, and Bangalore, India.

Ventura's calls will be answered in Dearne Valley, south Yorkshire, and in Bombay, India.

About 150,000 people call the rail inquiries number every day, and under the new contracts, half will be answered by the centres in India.

Union leaders were unhappy at the announcement yesterday and were trying to find out if any jobs would be lost in the UK.

David Fleming, a national officer for the Amicus union, said: ''At a time when some firms are making business decisions to return to the UK, it is absurd to think that half of all rail inquiries will be handled better from thousands of miles away."

BT said a significant amount of work would remain at its two centres in Derby and Newcastle.

A spokesman said the business was very competitive. It was significant that the two successful firms had included an element of overseas work, he said.

BT held a successful trial last year answering calls in India, proving the quality of service was maintained, the company said.