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Britain's only publicly owned railway was delivering all-time record levels of punctuality before it was flogged off by the Tory Government last year.

The last end-of-year report on the East Coast mainline found passenger satisfaction was also at an “all-time record” for any long-distance line by mid-2015.

Publicly-owned Directly Operated Railways also made more than £1billion for the Treasury before the line was privatised in May 2015, the report shows.

Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Lilian Greenwood said: “This report proves once and for all that public ownership of the railways would deliver better services for passengers.

“It delivered record punctuality and satisfaction scores for passengers alongside better working conditions for staff.”

Read more: Privatising East Coast mainline has failed EVERY TIME

The East Coast mainline had to be nationalised in 2009 after private operator National Express walked away from the contract amid the financial crisis.

(Image: Ben Pruchnie)

After five years of vastly improving performance and raking in hundreds of millions of pounds for the Government, it was sold off to Virgin on a long-term contract two months before the general election.

Labour wants bring all the rail contracts back under public ownership as quickly as possible.

Ms Greenwood said: “The sell-off of East Coast was an act of ideological self-sabotage that put profits before the railways’ best interests.

“It’s now clearer than ever that the railways need Labour’s plan that would bring the franchises into public ownership, and put passengers ahead of profits.”