A RAIL boss has condemned a North-East railway station as an eyesore and a disgrace.

Richard Lungmuss said he would make it a crusade of his to improve Hartlepool railway station.

Mr Lungmuss is a former commanding officer in the Royal Artillery Regiment and took over as regional route director of Network Rail this year.

The 54-year-old said of the station: “It is an eyesore and a disgrace. I am going to do whatever it takes to make it look better, as the people of Hartlepool do not deserve that.”

He made his comments in a wide-ranging interview with The Northern Echo.

It followed the unveiling of a five-year plan by Network Rail for major engineering works.

Network Rail, which is responsible for Britain’s rail infrastructure, has pledged a bigger and better railway, with more trains and more seats.

It also plans to spend £122m on track and signal renewal projects in the North over the next five years.

However, the organisation has faced criticism from unions, which said its decision to defer some improvement projects in an attempt to make efficiency savings is putting safety at risk and is costing jobs. This week, rail maintenance company Jarvis, which employs 400 staff in York, said 450 UK jobs would be lost because it had less work to go round.

Mr Lungmuss said: “We can confirm we are not going to be doing as much renewal work this year. Some projects are being deferred so we can deliver them in a more efficient manner.”

He also addressed the question of Network Rail moving away from York, where it has its regional headquarters and employs 2,000 staff.

He confirmed about 200 jobs were to be moved to a national centre being built in Milton Keynes, but said the remainder of its business would stay in York.

He also spoke about engineering projects at weekends, which often require passengers to switch to buses.

He said most passengers preferred to continue to travel by train, even if it meant longer, diverted journeys and that was something the operator was increasingly looking to do.

He concluded: “The North- East is a pretty important part of the patch and there is a lot of work to be done.”