The official rail passengers' watchdog for the North-East has condemned the quality of local rail services in the region.

It told MPS that a lack of staff, trains and other facilities has made services unreliable and punctuality poor.

The regional Rail Passengers' Committee attacked the Government and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) for lacking "any perceptible dynamic commitment to improvement".

Their evidence to the Commons Transport Select Committee said: "The SRA have to be dragged to act, and are generally unsupportive of improvement initiatives. They do not take the lead."

They also neglected even existing lines together with its partner Railtrack, it was clamed.

The watchdog's written evidence added: "For example, the quality of verges, and the amount of graffiti on trackside structures and equipment is deplorable, contrasting starkly with the quality of highway verges.

"This is a stark demonstration of where Government and SRA priorities lie."

The renewal of the Transpennine Express and the Northern rail franchises "seem to be based on providing the minimum service possible", it added.

The Passengers Committee also said neither the Government or the SRA appeared to recognise the need to expand the rail network to meet congestion and pollution targets.

The evidence also took a swipe at the franchising process, which is said was both "too slow and too late", and "abdicating all responsibility once a franchise has been let".

Jim Beale, chairman of the Passengers' Committee, also attacked the failure of the SRA and the Government to award a long-term 14-year franchise for inter-city East Coast Main Line services - instead GNER's existing franchise was extended for two years. "I can't see that short-term franchise extensions are going to provide real benefits," he said.

Transport Minister John Spellar would not comment on what stage plans for upgrading the ECML had reached.

"The SRA is at present taking this forward," he said, "but it is a little too early for us to make an announcement on the upgrade."

A spokeswoman for the SRA said: "There is a great deal of public funding being channelled into train services in the north and we are committed to improving performance and services in the region.

"In particular the SRA has significantly increased subsidy to Arriva Trains Northern this year, and has specifically provided further funding for extra rolling stock. The creation of new northern rail and transpennine franchises, which is progressing well and has attracted strong interest from private companies, will allow for significantly better services to be provided across the region."