Leeds typifies the need for local investment

It comes as no surprise to those of us who use local rail services in Yorkshire and the Humber that the region receives the least investment of all the regions in England, at just £190 per head ( Analysis, RAIL 826).

Take a local stopping service between Sheffield and Doncaster, and you are very likely to be boarding a bone-shaking draughty 30-year-old-plus Pacer.

I understand that these are to be finally phased out in 2019, and for this the region’s rail users are supposed to be grateful! But I ask myself if such a state of affairs would have been allowed to exist in London and the South East? Of course not.

I fully endorse the argument for greater local rail investment in the regions. No one would argue against the importance of rail investment in London, but it feels to many people in the regions that we are considered at best an afterthought in terms of rail investment and policy in general.

Politicians and policy makers can spout as much Northern Powerhouse (whatever that means - has anybody defined its geographical limitations?) rhetoric as they like, but it makes little difference to those of us who live here.

One example, and perhaps the most damning, is the fact that Yorkshire’s largest city - Leeds, with a population around 750,000 - has no light rail service, making it the largest city in Europe to suffer such a transport deficit.

I wonder what would enhance the lives of the city s travelling public the most: HS2 or a comprehensive light rail service? I know which I would choose.