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

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

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

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

During a Commons debate, Lilian Greenwood, Labour’s transport spokesman, 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.”

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