Is long wait nearly over?

While it is certainly true that a number of high-profile schemes have inched forward, just like a car in a rush-hour traffic jam, the Ministerial announcements were lined with caveats, and tentative phrases such as "one step ahead".

Yet, while it would be churlish not to acknowledge the Government's recognition that these cities are in desperate need of transport investment, the announcements still leave much to be desired on three fronts.

First, there is no guarantee that the money earmarked for these schemes will survive the inevitable spending squeeze after the election – especially as transport is, traditionally, one of the first budgets to be trimmed because it does not command the same political cachet as schools or hospitals.

How, for example, will the Government be able to contemplate reducing, or scrapping, the tolls on the Humber Bridge when it could not afford to do so in the boom years that preceded the recession?

Second, many will contend, with justification, that the proposed trolleybus scheme for Leeds is an inadequate substitute for the Supertram project that was rejected by Ministers. It is also just one project in a city that needs a raft of micro-transport initiatives to counter the gridlock that threatens to jeopardise the area's future investment prospects.

And, finally, Yorkshire's railways are still lagging behind other regions, even more so following the recent decision to allocate more carriages to commuter services in the North West.

While much emphasis is being placed, and rightly so, on placing Yorkshire at the heart of any nationwide high-speed rail network, it's imperative that the schemes outlined yesterday, and many more, are implemented at the earliest opportunity.

For, frankly, the lack of transport investment in Yorkshire, over the lifespan of successive governments, is far too important to be

subjected to pre-election shenanigans.