It said it needed figures like the 1998-99 pre-tax profit of £428 million so it could continue to invest heavily in the rail network.

But the London Regional Passengers Committee said rail travellers would feel "totally ripped off" by the latest figure, which compared with a profit of £408 million in 1997-98.

And Gwyneth Dunwoody, chairman of the House of Commons Transport Committee, accused Railtrack of only existing to "line the pockets of the people who own the shares".

Railtrack countered by highlighting its £1.45 billion investment in the rail network over the last year.

The company said the investment figure was 15 per cent higher than last year and twice the amount spent in the year before the rail system was privatised.

Norman Broadhurst, its financial director, said: "In order for Railtrack to continue to invest at this high level in the network it needs to generate these profits."

But Sir Alan Greengross, chairman of the London Regional Passengers Committee, said: "All passengers see is profits shooting up and standards falling away.

"We were told at the national railsummit earlier this year that things could only get better. But they are getting worse and worse."

Railtrack chief executive Gerald Corbett defended the profit figures as a necessary factor in securing more investment in the rail network. "Profit and investment are two sides of the same coin," he said.

He insisted the subsidy from the taxpayer was not enough to convince potential investors in Railtrack to put their money into future projects. By 2003 the subsidy would be £700 million, which Mr Corbett described as "peanuts".

He insisted: "Today's profit is tomorrow's investment. I am unashamed about it because that is the key to getting the investment in."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.