The RMT rail union has claimed that outsourcing train cleaners is racist, creating an "effectively segregated" workforce across the railway network.
The union is calling on the Government to end "exploitative" agency hiring by bringing these workers in-house.
According to the RMT, outsourcing traps thousands of black and minority ethnic staff in insecure jobs without pensions, training or promotion prospects.
The practice also lowers service standards across the rail network, the union said.
The RMT rail union has claimed that outsourcing train cleaners is racist
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These claims are detailed in a new report titled "How Outsourcing Embeds Systemic Racism on the Railway," published yesterday.
The report found that 58 per cent of outsourced cleaners and caterers were non-white, compared with a quarter of staff employed directly by train operators.
People of African ethnic origin made up 22 per cent of all outsourced cleaners, but only five per cent of the workforce at National Rail and other operators.
The RMT surveyed more than 500 outsourced workers to understand the impact of this disparity.
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Eddie Dempsey was elected as general secretary of the RMT
PAThe survey results revealed that 77 per cent of black and minority ethnic respondents had never discussed a promotion.
Additionally, 68 per cent said they had received no further training in the past three years.
One respondent told the RMT: "The only time the manager talks to his employees is to discipline them. I'd probably get the sack for asking."
Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said the union intended to fight "tooth and nail" to hold Sir Keir Starmer to his promise of overseeing "the biggest wave of in-sourcing for a generation."
RMT stands for the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
PANetwork Rail highlighted its history of insourcing, noting that in 2004 it brought 15,000 workers from private contractors in-house.
A spokesman said: "The day-to-day safe running, operation and maintenance of our railway is delivered by direct employees."
The Department for Transport told The Telegraph that "diversity and inclusion is pivotal to any industry's success."
The DfT added that Labour's plan to create Great British Railways "will sweep away decades of failure, ending fragmentation and waste and delivering for passengers, taxpayers and staff."
Eighty-three per cent of surveyed workers believed passengers would receive better service if roles were brought in-house.
