A SEVEN-POINT plan to improve the region's railways has been published by Friends of the Earth.

The environmental lobby group is pressing the Government for greater investment in the North-East network. It says a number of small, but significant improvements could be made quickly by rail chiefs at comparatively little cost. These include cutting the cost of rail travel by introducing a national off-peak discount rail card.

Friends of the Earth says there is a lack of late-night trains to allow people to enjoy an evening out and calls for more services to be run when people want them.

Examples of routes it claims where such problems exist include Newcastle to Chester-le-Street and Newcastle to Hexham.

It also calls for action to tackle bottlenecks causing congestion problems through for instance the provision of more passing points on the Middlesbrough to Whitby line.

The group's plan also backs moves to re-open the mothballed Leamside railway line.

The freight line, between Pelaw and Ferryhill, has already been included in the Strategic Rail Authority's ten year plan.

It is due to be revamped so it can be used for passenger services.

Tony Bosworth, of Friends of the Earth, said: "Rail travellers in the North-East are fed up. They have put up with a poor service for too long and want to see improvements.

"We say that there is a lot which could be done relatively quickly to make much-needed improvements."

Fran Preston, deputy secretary of the North-East Rail Passengers Committee, said: "We of course want to see the network being extended with more trains and more investment.

"We have heard a lot of what Friends of the Earth are saying before, but it cannot do any harm for people to hear it again.