YORK rail passengers will lose out after it emerged that part of the TransPennine route will not be electrified, an MP has claimed.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling is reported to have said it would be too difficult to run electric pylons along the whole line between Manchester and Leeds, and ‘bi-modal’ trains could instead operate with diesel engines on part of the network.

“We don’t need to electrify all of every route,” the Minister reportedly said in Manchester. “There are places that are built in Victorian times where it is very difficult to put up electric cables.”

York Central Labour MP and shadow rail minister Rachael Maskell said York passengers would have gained from the electrification project, which would have improved journey times to Leeds, Huddersfield, Manchester and Liverpool and increased capacity on frequently overcrowded trains.

“This is a slap in the face for the commuters and businesses in the North, including those in my constituency,” she claimed.

“Just six weeks ago, the Tories promised the electrification of the TransPennine route as an integral part of the Government’s ‘Northern Powerhouse.’...The Tories have gone from Northern Powerhouse to Northern Powercut.”

She also said the minister had not had the courtesy to put the TransPennine route announcement into a written statement before the rise of Parliament, thereby avoiding any scrutiny by MPs, who had been “treated with complete contempt”.

Cllr Keith Wakefield, transport chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority, said Mr Grayling’s comments appeared to pre-empt Network Rail’s work which concluded this autumn, and hinted at “broken promises that will mean faster journeys and improved productivity in the North created through rail improvements are derailed”.

Mr Grayling also came under fresh fire yesterday after backing London’s multibillion-pound Crossrail 2 scheme, a north-south rail line running across the capital between Hertfordshire and Surrey.

The minister told The Press in May that the Government was supporting investment across the North with “new trains, big improvement in Transpennine route, the Transpennine electrification project that’s coming down the track, and Northern Powerhouse rail”.

A Department for Transport spokesman said major upgrades to the Manchester – Leeds – York route were currently being designed and developed to enable it to deliver more improvements for rail passengers from 2022.

“We are also working with the region to develop plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail, which aims to dramatically improve journey times between the major cities of the north,” he said.

“Passengers expect high quality rail services and we are committed to electrification where it delivers benefits, but will also take advantage of new technology to improve journeys.”

He added that an investment decision on the Transpennine Route Upgrade would be taken next year – with delivery planned by 2022. “We are looking to deliver improvements to journey times, the ability to run longer trains offering more seats on both long distance and local services and improvements to overall performance on the whole route.”