RAIL campaigners in the North-East reacted angrily last night after proposals to slash maintenance on branch lines to enhance busier routes were revealed.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) believes maintenance - and therefore services - should be prioritised on improving major inter-city and commuter routes at the expense of less used lines.

The proposals, if approved, could see track renewal on rural, freight and other secondary lines being halved and journey times delayed.

But unions and passenger groups hit out at the plans, fearing they will lead to the running down of such services.

Brian Milne, of campaign group Transport 2000, said there were particular concerns about the Sunderland-Hartlepool and Middlesbrough-Whitby lines.

"There was some maintenance work done, but it was a couple of years ago and some of it is not complete, so it is all very worrying," he said.

The group also wants to see investment in the freight line from Ferryhill, County Durham, to Norton, on Teesside. It believes a passenger route could be established, but this would be threatened by the proposals.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow condemned the SRA proposals, saying: "This is not efficiency, it is planned neglect and the SRA is proving once more that it has no strategy at all, except to cut, cut and cut again."

The plans come in a consultation paper published yesterday, but SRA chief Richard Bowker insisted it was not a new "Beeching" plan that slashed branch lines in the 1960s.