Yorkshire passengers will be watching cautiously to see what the new Government has to offer
Public transport has long been an area of frustration for Yorkshire as a region. Passengers who live and work here have to put up with disruption on a daily basis.
It is clear that there has simply not been enough investment in the region’s transport network. This is a severe hindrance on multiple fronts.
When new projects have been promised they have invariably either failed to materialise or been watered down to a point where they are rendered ineffective.
That is why a lot of people will be anxious to see the new Government commit to meaningful investment in this region when it comes to public transport.
There will be some sympathy for the Government as it will have to work with the situation that it has inherited. But the Chancellor waving fiscal rules in the face of disgruntled passengers will not be enough.
And given that Rachel Reeves is also MP for Leeds West and Pudsey, while Transport Secretary Louise Haigh is also MP for Sheffield Heeley, they should understand better than previous Ministers the abject state of the region’s transport network.
While Ms Reeves has casts doubt over Rishi Sunak's 'Network North' transport plans, it’s important to see how this Government’s plans play out.
The West Yorkshire mass transit project was also included in the Network North plans by the previous government and that is still going ahead.
But the message to Labour from the region is clear. It needs to be bold in government and deliver what the Tories failed to, a transport network fit for the 21st century that provides mobility to all parts of the region.