LORD Andrew Lloyd Webber's crusade to improve the railways of the UK arrived in the North-East yesterday, with operator GNER earning a thumbs-up from the master of the musicals.

Last week, Lord Lloyd Webber entered into a war of words with rail companies over lengthy delays he encountered while trying to travel from London to Plymouth, where a new touring version of his musical, Sunset Boulevard, had just opened.

With the production, which stars Faith Brown, set to move to Newcastle's Theatre Royal next week, the creator of Starlight Express was determined to put rail travel to the test again.

Overall, he described the East Coast main line as "very efficient" and added: "We were only ten minutes late today (arriving in Newcastle from London).

"We had a train driver who was particularly fond of Welwyn Garden City, which I'm more familiar with now than when I started."

The composer now rates the touring version of Sunset Boulevard as "good enough to take back into London".

He surprised a press conference in the grip of fever about the England versus Albania football match at St James' Park, Newcastle, with the news that he could not wait to visit St Andrew's Church, Roker, Sunderland, on behalf of the Church Trust.

Newcastle Theatre Royal general manager Peter Sarah said tickets for Sunset Boulevard, which runs from September 12 to October 6, are outselling the forthcoming Royal Shakespeare Company season.