The Government has U-turned on its commitment to reopen the Leamside railway line, just 24 hours after making the massive announcement.
A restoration of the mothballed line, which runs from Pelaw in
Gateshead to Tursdale in
County Durham, was included in initial announcements about the ‘Network North’ programme revealed by Rishi Sunak on Wednesday. The Prime Minister pledged to invest in hundreds of transport projects around the North and Midlands, using £36bn he says will be saved by scrapping the northern leg of HS2.
But, just a day later, all reference to reopening the Leamside Line has been removed from the Network North website and the promise seemingly abandoned. Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Thursday lunchtime, roads minister Richard Holden confirmed that the Government was simply “committed to looking into” the Leamside Line project.