Transport secretary Alistair Darling is set to deliver his verdict on the future of railways in the North-East when he addresses some of the industry's key figures.

The Government minister is being lined up to speak at a major conference which aims to map out how passenger improvements will be delivered and contribute to the region's economy.

Other guest speakers at the Northern Rail Strategies Conference, being held in Leeds in November, are expected to include Network Rail chief executive John Armitt, Vernon Barker, managing director of Trans Pennine Express railways and Mike Parker, of Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus.

They are expected to discuss elements of the White Paper on rail, published in July, which revealed that the Strategic Rail Authority would be scrapped with the Government grabbing back more control of the railways.

The White Paper also detailed plans to give regional assemblies funding to spend on railways and hand more powers to local Passenger Transport Executives.

Christine Knights, chairman of the North-East Rail Passengers Committee, which is co-hosting the event, said: "The purpose is to bring together local authorities, regional government agencies, train operating companies and senior figures from the rail industry to demonstrate how they can work together taking into account the contents of the White Paper "the Future of Rail".

The North-East RPC has long claimed that investment in the railways is heavily skewed towards London and the South-East at the expense of this region.