Transport Secretary Mark Harper has been quizzed over why plans to reopen the Leamside Line were dropped 24 hours after they were announced.

Earlier this month a Government document listed the former railway line in County Durham as one of the projects to be completed with funds from the scrapped HS2 link from Birmingham to Manchester.

The following day the plans were removed from ‘Network North’ proposals to the dismay of people across the region campaigning for it to be reopened.

The Government was accused of treating the North East with ‘total contempt’.

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Durham City MP Mary Foy said: “No matter how much the Secretary of State tries to back-pedal, the fact is that the proposal to reopen the Leamside Line was scrapped just 24 hours after it was announced, and businesses and communities in the north-east rightly feel betrayed.

“Who was it who decided that they would water down the proposal?

“Who decided that the Leamside Line was far too north to be worthy of “Government investment?

Was it the Prime Minister, the Treasury or the Minister who sold out the North East?”

The Secretary of State attempted to reject suggestions the Government’s commitment had been watered down.

He said: “I am not quite sure why the Honourable Lady does not think that an extra £685 million for transport in the North East, adding up to £1.8 billion of investment, and the fact that we have started work with officials in that area on that project should not be welcomed.

“I think it should be welcomed, and I am sure that she and other colleagues who support it will continue working with us on making sure that it gets delivered.”
Reopening the Leamside Line to local rail, Metro and freight services is seen as an important piece of infrastructure for the economic future of the North East.

The plan has the backing of North East political and business leaders with Labour candidate for the North East Mayoralty, Kim McGuinness, pledging to reopen the line if elected.

Reacting to the Minister’s statement, Mary Kelly Foy MP said: “It’s an absolute farce that ministers are attempting to pull the wool over people in the North East’s eyes.

“No matter how they try to spin it, a commitment to reopen the Leamside Line was published only for it to be removed.

“It is no wonder people in the North East no longer feel they can trust a single word that comes from the Government.”

Sharon Hodgson, MP for Washington and Sunderland West, also grilled the minister as to why they were U-turning on reopening the Leamside Line.

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “If this is what they have done and they have gone back on their word, how can we believe anything else that they have said in the last week?

“How can the prime minister have any credibility on the commitments he has made?

“If they don’t honour their commitments made on this it would be significant evidence of a betrayal of the North of England.”

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Martin Gannon, North East Joint Transport Committee chairman, said: “The North East needs to see a reversal of a long history of underinvestment in transport for the benefit of generations to come.

“This must include a commitment to fund the reopening of the Leamside Line not yet another broken promise."

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John McCabe, chief executive, North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Government ran down the clock on HS2 over a number of years and it seems to have taken them just a matter of hours to do the same on the Leamside Line.

“Big, bold announcements made at party conferences are utterly meaningless if they aren’t backed up by fast action.

“The case for the Leamside Line is well known and has been strengthened by having cross-party support in the North East.

“I hope those who have long advocated for the Leamside Line will join us in continuing to do so until this essential piece of infrastructure is finally delivered.”