FUNDING cuts to key transport initiatives in the north of England threaten to “level down” the government’s levelling up agenda, rail union Aslef said today.

Statutory transport body Transport for the North (TfN) said that the Department for Transport is proposing to slash its budget next year.

The department is planning to reduce the organisation’s core funding from £10 million to £6m, and scrap £3m of investment set to go towards the rollout of contactless payment systems for northern England’s rail, bus and tram networks.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “Boris Johnson pledged, at the general election, to level up the economies of the north and south. Now it is clear that he has started to level down.

“Transport for the north will lose 40 per cent of its core funding and one-fifth of its annual support in the next financial year. 

“Mr Johnson has taken a wrecking ball to infrastructure projects across the board — and across the north.

“The Prime Minister thinks that people in the north don’t matter, and is telling them they will have to put up with a second-class railway, because that is all they deserve.

“He is wrong. And that is why I am calling on Mr Johnson and his government to deliver on their promises and invest. Not just for people, for passengers and for the railway. But for Britain.”

TfN finance director Iain Craven said that the board is disappointed and concerned that funding is being cut, putting northern English investment and jobs at risk, at a time when the government’s levelling up agenda is needed most.

The Department for Transport said: “We are committed to levelling up every part of this country, investing in schemes improving journeys and boosting economic growth.”