MINISTERS were accused of trying to hide the success of the East Coast rail line in state hands, as the row over re-privatisation hotted up.

Labour revealed extracts from a “leaked prospectus” for the new franchise to operate the route – which were mysteriously dropped from the final version.

Those extracts included:

* A reference to the “current, successful business” under state-owned Directly Operated Railways (DOR) - which was downgraded to read simply “the current business”.

* “Staff engagement is at an all time high” – which was altered to “staff engagement has been improved”.

* A description of the way the “East Coast Main Line’s public reputation has remained consistently high” – which disappeared completely.

* “Since the beginning of 2011/12, East Coast Main Line has been the recipient of 35 industry awards” – which was also dropped.

* A statement that the East Coast’s passenger satisfaction was “higher than the 89 per cent for all long distance operators” – which was omitted entirely.

During a Commons debate, Lilian Greenwood, Labour’s transport spokeswoman, said: “It is clear that, at a late stage, a decision was taken to alter, or remove, positive references to East Coast performance since 2009.

“But we do not know who ordered those changes. Perhaps the Minister can tell us today?”

The debate was led by Sharon Hodgson, Labour MP for Washington and Sunderland West, who told ministers: “The East Coast Main Line does not need to change.

“The process might ultimately lead to a significantly worse deal for all our constituents - as well as for the Exchequer - when there is absolutely no need.”

In reply, transport minister Stephen Hammond did not comment on the dramatic changes between the leaked prospectus and the final version.

But he said: “We followed the absolutely standard procedures.

“The Government is putting in place the refranchising process that will deliver the best partner to deliver the best benefit for all customers on the East Coast main line. That is the way forward.”

The debate came almost three weeks after the department for transport (Dft) unveiled the ‘invitation to tender’ (ITT) for the East Coast line.

Virgin, FirstGroup and a consortia led by SNCF, France’s state-owned rail company, are all expected to compete for the franchise, to start in February 2015.

But Labour, trades unions and some passenger groups have protested that profits - currently being reinvested in a better rail network - will now be lost to private shareholders.

And there are fears of a third “franchise fiasco” after both National Express and GNER handed back the East Coast keys, when they ran out of cash.