PRIME Minister Gordon Brown yesterday got a firsthand view of the East Coast Main Line during a whistlestop visit to the region.

Mr Brown travelled on the line, which is to temporarily come under state ownership, stopping off in North Yorkshire and Northumberland.

On Wednesday, East Coast operator National Express said it was not continuing to support the line financially when funding ran out – probably in the next few months.

Yesterday Mr Brown used the National Express service to travel from York to Newcastle.

During a visit to the Lynemouth Smelter and Power Station, near Ashington, Northumberland, he praised the rail service.

“It was good,” he told reporters.

“The important thing is that the service has been maintained. The workforce are still in their jobs.”

Earlier, during a visit to a library in Sherburn in Elmet, near Selby, North Yorkshire, Mr Brown said there was a clear distinction between the political parties, with Labour committed to investment.

The Prime Minister said: “The choice for our country is do you invest your way out of a recession like this, as America is doing, as many other countries are doing, or do you just cut your public services and your public investment now?

“And that really is the choice between the parties at the moment.

“We want to invest our way through this recession, we want to make sure that people have jobs.”

Mr Brown was in the village to meet staff and residents who use the library facilities.

During his brief tour, he took part in a question-andanswer session with villagers, many of whom have been affected by debt problems.

Mr Brown and his wife, Sarah, also called in on a York family to hear how they are faring in the recession.

The Browns were paying a return visit to Chris and Sarah Charlton, and their t w o - a n d - a - h a l f - y e a r - o l d daughter Kairen after the family went to Downing Street last November.

That visit was organised by GMTV after the Charltons were chosen to represent young families who are struggling to cope with the credit crunch.

Yesterday, the couple told Mr Brown about how they had benefited in recent months from the big cut in bank base rates.

However, they also had long-term concerns about the security of their jobs at Aviva and the tourist organisation Welcome to Yorkshire.