'Fair' transport funding system may benefit region

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said she was "aware of the strength of feeling" in the region about being denied a fair share of funding and said it was "vitally important" to assess transport needs fairly. Speaking at a fringe meeting of the party conference, she said the Government would focus on spending money "in a much smarter way" as cuts begin to bite.

Pressed about the bias in the funding system, which sees significantly less spent on transport per person in Yorkshire than in London and the South East, she said: "It's vitally important that we do a fair assessment of the transport needs of different parts of the country. It's never going to be easy getting this right in terms of fairness of allocation but we do need to be fair to different parts of the country.

"We also need to take into account the business case of projects and I'm afraid very often the business case is stronger in the South East and London because of the benefits that can be generated. But the business case is not the be all and end all."

The Yorkshire Post's Road to Ruin campaign was launched in an effort to lobby for a fair funding deal for the region, particularly to ease congestion on roads and railways.

Decisions by the previous Government to plough 16bn into London's Crossrail scheme as well as carrying out massive Tube upgrades and building the high-speed rail link to the Channel Tunnel caused anger in the region as commuters have been forced to cope with gridlocked roads and overcrowded trains.

Ms Villiers said: "I am very much aware of the strength of feeling about rail overcrowding and the quality of rolling stock into and out of many of our great northern towns and cities."

Pudsey Conservative MP Stuart Andrew said: "Really what we should be looking at it fairness. In the north of England we have not enjoyed the level of investment in our transport that has been enjoyed all over the rest of the country.

"In fact in Yorkshire I understand we get 100 a head less than the national average. That's how poor it has been for us.

"We are an economic driver. Leeds and Bradford are big cities that are generating a lot of income for our country and we need to help people getting in and out of those cities.

"People are now travelling further."