Northumberland Labour says it’s time to transform transport.

Leader Scott Dickinson said: “For far too long the North has been the poor relation in the government’s transport plans.

“From road repairs to accessible railway stations, the North’s needs have been ignored with the vast majority of investment being plowed into the South East.

“We know there is a long way to go to recover from the Covid pandemic but if we are to be ready for an upturn in the economy, transport has be at the heart of it. And we know good public transport is essential to get people out of their cars. What we have at the moment just isn’t good enough to persuade any car owner to choose public transport.

“We want to expand the rail network and make sure it integrates into other forms of transport.

“We’ve just seen plans for rail network expansion in the North scrapped and Network Rail’s improvement fund has been cut by £1bn.

“These actions hardly seem like a government serious about levelling up. It’s just empty words.

“Labour believes the whole transport network needs to be transformed to make it safe, convenient, affordable and environmentally sustainable.

“This can be done but it will take sitting down with people and finding ways to spend money wisely to create a system fit for the future.”