PUBLICLY owned rail operator East Coast raised over £225 million in profits this year, new figures showed yesterday — laying bare the madness of the government’s push to reprivatise the franchise.

Run by state firm Directly Operated Railways since 2009, East Coast announced it would be be handing the Department for Transport (DfT) £216.8 million worth of premium and dividend payments.

But the success is set to be short-lived, with the government already planning to sell East Coast to an unnamed private bidder in March next year.