TRAIN passengers are choosing to ignore their local stations in favour of travel on the East Coast Mainline because of service cuts, a report claims.
The report, prepared on behalf of the North-East Assembly, calls for better public transport between the two city regions of Tees Valley and Tyne and Wear.
It said that such provision is "imperative" for the increasingly linked economic future of both areas.
Daily train services on the so-called Tees-Tyne direct rail route, linking Middlesbrough and Newcastle, were cut back from 19 to just four last year by the Strategic Rail Authority, despite protests from passenger groups and local councils.
The report by transport consultants JMP said: "As far as these two city regions are concerned, high quality road links already exist, but the same cannot be said of rail, a situation not helped by the recent withdrawal of direct services."
It adds: "There are clear indications that potential passengers - including those travelling between Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool - are choosing to ignore their local stations in favour of main line stations on the East Coast Mainline at Newcastle and Darlington."
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