GNER has criticised the owner of the North-East's railway stations for holding up badly-needed improvements, a report to MPs has revealed.

The train operator said Network Rail's procedures for approving station revamps were "slow-moving and bureaucratic", according to the National Audit Office (NAO) study.

It complained that the "lengthy negotiation and development periods" added up to 20 per cent to the costs of its projects.

A GNER spokesman declined to say which station redevelopments it was referring to.

But, last December, improvements were completed at Darlington, Durham and Newcastle - all of which are owned by Network Rail, but managed by GNER under franchise.

The upgrades formed part of GNER's £10m station improvement programme to modernise facilities at key stations along the East Coast Main Line.

A GNER spokesman said: "There were problems with the speed with which developments were progressed and the age-old problem of extra costs."

Other train operating companies and passenger transport authorities had also complained of Network Rail's "insufficient interest in developing franchised stations", the report said.

The NAO concluded: "These complications add to the long lead times between designing station improvements and delivering them."

Its report, published today, warns that Britain is spending less on maintaining and improving stations than other countries, such as Germany and Switzerland.

As a result, many passengers are unhappy about the facilities on offer, including car and cycle parking, and do not feel safe at smaller stations.

The Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) - an organisation the Government is preparing to abolish - originally pledged to spend £225m on improvements at 980 stations.

But it cut the programme to £25m and 68 stations to match the amount of money the Department for Transport (DfT) made available, the NAO said.