TRANSPORT Minister Kim Howells followed a track being laid by modern day rail pioneers when he visited the North-East yesterday.

By this time next year, thousands of visitors could be tracing the route he took from Escomb, County Durham, where he opened a bridge over the Weardale Railway line, to the £10m Shildon Railway Village, which will become a national museum.

The Weardale line, being developed by the Weardale Railway Company, and the burgeoning Shildon project are two key elements in a money-spinning network of industrial themed attractions aimed at putting the region on the national tourist map.

At Shildon, Mr Howells was shown the steel framed shell of the giant glass building which will next September house 60 vehicles from the National Railway Museum, in York.

He said: "The schemes that are the best schemes are the ones that are linked so that there is a variety of attractions for people to come to."

Earlier, Mr Howells was shown improvements to the A1 at Stannington, in Northumberland, and toured Durham City where controversial congestion charges have cut traffic in the town centre.

He said: "The council in Durham took a brave decision. People all over the world will be coming to see it. Other cities are being strangled by traffic and this will be copied in other places."