YORK's three main rail companies came under fire today as MPs criticised them over profit and performance.

A group of MPs has condemned Jarvis, the company at the centre of an investigation into a fatal rail crash, for recording massive profits.

Pre-tax profits soared from £24.8 million last year to £45.8 million this year - an increase of nearly 100 per cent for the York-based firm.

And this afternoon Arriva Trains Northern (ATN) and GNER were being grilled by an influential committee of MPs.

Earlier this year, ATN was criticised in a Commons report for failing to invest in new rolling stock, worsening delays and cancellations and replacing trains with buses.

The company's managers were explaining their performance to the Commons' transport sub-committee.

MPs were quizzing ATN and GNER about everything from the causes of delays to the comfort of seats carriages as part of an investigation into rail services in the north of England.

In January, Arriva Trains Northern was branded "disastrous" in a scathing report by MPs.

The company was criticised for axing 1,000 services a week last summer.

Jarvis is still being probed about last month's rail smash at Potters Bar railway station, in Hertfordshire, which left seven dead and 76 injured.

The company is responsible for track maintenance. A preliminary investigation into the accident has blamed loose points near the station as the likely cause of the derailment.

Now five MPs have signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion condemning the size of the profits and urging the Government to toughen up rules relating to hiring contractors to carry out maintenance work on the railways.

The EDM claims current rules encourage firms to cut corners - putting profits before safety.

It states: "Taxpayers' money in the form of subsidies invested into the rail network is going straight to profits for private companies.

"We are concerned over the current methods of contracting out maintenance work and the consequences of contractors competing for work against one another."

An Arriva spokesman said: "This meeting is an opportunity to inform the select committee about the state of the franchise when we took it over and the other external factors which have impacted on the business.

"More importantly, it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the investment in recruitment and training that we have achieved and which is now leading to a turn-about in the business."

Updated: 11:52 Wednesday, June 19, 2002