THE company behind York-headquartered East Coast Main Line has posted a £16.6 million rise in operating profits - fuelling the argument against privatisation.

Directly Operated Railways (DOR), which owns the East Coast company on behalf of the Department for Transport, announced a 4.5 per cent increase in annual passenger journeys to 19.9 million, and increased revenues of £720 million resulting in pre tax profits of £225.3 million.

The success of the operation during the year ending March 31, 2014, has added weight to calls being made for the East Coast Mainline to remain under public ownership, as it has been since 2009, rather than current plans to privatise the line in March next year.

Campaign group Action for Rail, backed by the TUC and railway unions, has been fighting the Government's proposals to re-privatise the only remaining publicly-owned railway in the UK, which operates 155 weekday train services along the 936 mile line, and employs 2,900 staff.

Last October, more than 60 MPs signed an early day motion calling on the Government to keep the line in public control.

Commenting on the results, DOR chairman Doug Sutherland said: "During the year, we continued to make further good progress with the business turnaround of East Coast, and at 91 per cent, we were able to achieve the top customer satisfaction result for a long-distance franchised rail operator, in the 2014 spring wave Passenger Focus National Rail Passenger Survey, matching the result of the autumn 2013 survey.

"DOR’s financial performance has been good throughout the year, with £216.8 million provided to the DfT in premium and dividend payments, compared to £202.8 million in 2012/13.

"The business plan for the remainder of the franchise during 2014/15 will see the good work continuing, with the twin aims of ensuring a successful transfer of the business back to the private sector – in good condition, and maximising the value of the franchise achieved by the Government and the taxpayer."

During 2012, the Government decided that a new fleet of diesel trains would replace East Coast’s ageing diesel fleet as part of the InterCity Express Programme (IEP).

This was followed by a further announcement from the DfT in July 2013 that new electric trains would also be procured to replace the current Mk4 225 fleet as part of the IEP. This means that for the first time in its history, the future franchise will benefit from a standardised fleet of state-of-the-art trains on its route network.

East Coast has established a project team to work with the manufacturers Hitachi, both on issues affecting the final design, and to facilitate the introduction of the fleet on its network between 2018 and 2020.