Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will provide funding to reopen the Leamside rail line.

The Leamside Line is a Transport North East led project. The Government is giving locally elector mayors the means to spend on the priorities they determine are right for the parts of the country they represent, rather than taking all decisions in Westminster. We have made a promise to provide around £1.8 billion funding to the North East and they can then choose which schemes they allocate the funding to.