North East leaders and politicians have welcomed the Government’s commitment to back a number of major rail projects in the region.

The Chancellor commitment to build Northern Powerhouse Rail as part of a new list of accelerated infrastructure schemes announced in last week’s mini-budget.

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Prime Minister Liz Truss pledged to deliver the project in full during her Conversative leadership campaign after the Government previously scaled back the original plans for the Liverpool-Newcastle rail line.

The full proposal for Northern Powerhouse Rail included reopening the Leamside Line, a 21-mile disused rail line in the North East, which supporters say is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure to drive economic growth in the region.

Transport North East say the route, stretching from Gateshead, through South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham, would bring together recent Government investments in the north and south of the region, connecting South East Northumberland to Washington, Durham and Teesside and multiplying the Government’s investment in the Northumberland Line and in the new Ferryhill station and Stillington line from Durham to Teesside.

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If reopened, the line would free up much needed capacity on the East Coast Main Line and improve resilience and reliability between York and Newcastle, as well as enabling communities in the region - who have no access to rail - to be connected with Newcastle, Sunderland and Teesside.

Cllr Martin Gannon, chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee and Transport for the North Board Member, said: “The Leamside Line is absolutely vital to the long-term economic prosperity of the region – we urgently need to deliver this important piece of infrastructure and the campaign to reopen the line has garnered huge interest from cross-party MPs and businesses alike.

“The North East is united on this; reopening the line would change the region’s socio-economic future and I'm determined to make it a reality for local people. I'm pleased to hear commitments from Government to build Northern Powerhouse Rail in full.

“As the original proposal includes the reopening of the Leamside Line we are of course very interested in this positive development and look forward to working the Government to understand the finer detail.

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“If we are able to deliver the Leamside Line, this will help to increase capacity on the congested East Coast Main Line and speed up journeys between York and Newcastle. We’ll continue to work hard to make the case for reopening the Leamside Line.”

Paul Howell, Conservative MP for Sedgefield, said: “I have always been a supporter of Northern Powerhouse Rail and it’s very welcome to see it specifically mentioned in the Infrastructure projects of the Governments growth plan.

“Locally projects like the Leamside line are critical to our long term needs and have rightly attracted cross party support. I look forward to getting into the details at the earliest opportunity.”

Mary Foy, Labour’s Durham City MP, said: “Reopening the Leamside Line is a truly transformational investment on which the whole North East is united- this would genuinely start to level up our region.

“The line is an important part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, so it is positive that both Labour and the Government are committing to delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail in full."

Several business cases are being developed in the North East to make the case for reopening the Leamside Line, a number of which will be presented to the North East Joint Transport Committee in the coming months.

The Government’s latest comments on NPR will be discussed by northern leaders at the Transport for the North Board today.

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