THE first steps to creating a Metro transport system for the Tees Valley will be taken in the near future, the Minister for the North-East has revealed.

Nick Brown said that, subject to Department of Transport approval, £25m of firstphase work, including removing a major barrier to the scheme at Darlington station, could begin.

Following an underspend in the budget for the Regional Transport Fund, Mr Brown chaired a transport funding meeting at which decisions were made on a number of investments, including £10m to be spent at Darlington railway station and £5m each at stations at Wilton, Durham Tees Valley Airport and The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

Initially, work on the stations would benefit local train services and Mr Brown could not guarantee they would lead to a Metro service.

But he said the work would have to be done as phase one of any such Metro scheme if it went ahead.

Mr Brown’s revelation comes as the strongest hint yet that the creation of such a system could be imminent.

To create the entire network would cost at least £140m.

Speaking to The Northern Echo yesterday, Mr Brown said: “It is to get in place a series of projects that could eventually be the first phase of a Tees Valley Metro project.

“We have no permission for phase two or three. I can’t promise we are getting the Tees Valley Metro – but we are showing we are keen on things that would make it work.

“All of these things would have to be done and if we have the first phase we are a little bit closer. The main point is getting lighter carriages and a more frequent service.”

Mr Brown said work would initially be at Darlington railway station.

He said: “One obstacle would be crossing the East Coast Main Line and we are dealing with that problem first. We would move the eastwest line from the left side to the right side, meaning the trains don’t have to cross the East Coast Main Line.”

Mr Brown hinted that he was confident the Department of Transport would accept his recommendations.

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland Labour MP, Ashok Kumar, welcomed the news: “Such a scheme – and one many people have campaigned for – will be a great boost to Teesside’s internal communications network and would be a great step to easing traffic congestion on over-crowded local roads,” he said.

If it gets the go-ahead, the Metro scheme will link Darlington with Saltburn, in east Cleveland, making use of existing railway track for much of the route.