EMBATTLED Transport Secretary Stephen Byers last night admitted that "certain aspects" of the railways had worsened under Labour.

The North Tyneside MP made his comments as talks between union bosses and Arriva Trains Northern were set to continue today.

Meanwhile, it emerged last night that Mr Byers was expected to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into the railways in a bid to improve services before the next election. He has challenged passengers to judge him at the polls after promising to deliver real improvements.

The minister has secured an extra £4.5bn from the Treasury over the next ten years to show how serious he is about putting the railways back on track, according to The Times newspaper.

Mr Byers, under increasing pressure over strikes and delays on services, said: "Certain aspects of it have got worse under Labour ... that's the challenge that lies ahead. I am not sitting here pretending that we have a railway Britain can be proud of.

"I think the levels of service on our railways are unacceptable ... but the challenge ahead is to ensure that the travelling public gets a far better service from the railway system."

In the dispute between Arriva and the unions, both sides are seeking to resolve a pay wrangle which has led to conductors voting for 48-hour strikes on January 24 and 25, and February 5 and 6.

Alan Heath, regional organiser for the Rail Maritime and Transport Workers union in York, said that a 35-minute meeting yesterday had "started the ball rolling".

He said: "We are remaining positive, but don't expect to resolve this by any means on Friday."

But there was anger after it emerged the national strategic railway plan will reveal that spending on improvements to the railways will be heavily skewed towards the South- East.

The plan, being published by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) next week, will set out how £33.5bn of Government money will be spent over the next decade.

Sources close to the SRA say a significant amount of capital investment will be spent in and around London.

Peter Davis, chairman of the Yorkshire branch of the Rail Future campaign group, said: "Why should the South-East get a larger share of the cake when we badly need investment in the North?"

* Arriva was under pressure last night after it announced it had won two regional rail franchises in Denmark. Critics said it should concentrate on "putting its own house in order" in Britain.