MPs yesterday threw their weight behind an ambitious bid to run direct trains to London from Sunderland, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, and Hartlepool MP Iain Wright called for the Office of Rail Regulation to give track access rights to Grand Central Railway.

The company wants permission to run four trains a day from Sunderland to King's Cross station from December.

In a Commons debate yesterday on a new East Coast franchise, Mr Kumar and Mr Wright criticised the poor rail links to the capital.

Dr Kumar said: "Teesside is the largest single conurbation of population without a direct rail link to London. For years, we have had to go to Darlington."

Mr Wright said: "Passengers can be in London from Darlington in two hours. But to get to Darlington from Hartlepool can take another two hours."

Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority has offered its support to Grand Central Railway, provided local rail and Metro services are not adversely affected.

The East Coast main line franchise will start operations on May 1. GNER is battling FirstGroup, Danish Railways and a Virgin/Stagecoach consortium for the right to continue to run services on the 400-mile line.

Leading the debate, York Labour MP Hugh Bailey said GNER was widely recognised as a successful operator and warned that 1,000 jobs in the city depended on it retaining the franchise.