Foreign government-owned companies will be involved in running almost three quarters of the UK's rail routes after the new South West Trains franchise starts, according to a union study.

Monday's announcement of a joint venture with Chinese company MTR, which is 75% owned by the Hong Kong government, follows the recent awarding of the c2c franchise, which runs from the City of London to Essex, to Italian state operator Trenitalia.

A string of other European state-owned operators now run services in the UK, including some of the biggest franchises, according to research by the RMT.

They include: Arriva, a subsidiary of German state-owned Deutsche Bahn, which is involved in Chiltern, Cross Country, Grand Central, London Overground, Northern, Tyne & Wear Metro and Wales & Borders.

French state-controlled Keolis is involved in Docklands Light Railway, Gatwick Express, London Midland, Southern, South Eastern and Thameslink.

Abellio, the international arm of the Dutch national rail operator, is involved in Scotrail, Greater Anglia and Merseyrail.

Eurostar is part-owned by the French and Belgian state rail operators.

Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect are owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings, a consortium 41.8% of which is owned by the sovereign wealth funds of Singapore, China and Qatar.