Hull’s newest peer has accused the Government of dodging its promise to electrify rail links to the city through Northern Powerhouse Rail.
The new Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords, Lord McCobb, has been quizzing the Rail Minister over his plans for the Humber.
It comes after then-chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Government’s £45bn proposal to connect up cities on both sides of the Pennines in January, with upgrades between Leeds, Sheffield and York and a new line connecting Leeds and Manchester.
This had a three-phased approach with work mapped out into the 2040s, however it did not include plans to electrify routes between Hull and Leeds and Sheffield.
NPR was initially envisioned as a high-speed that would run from coast to coast, connecting the Humber to the Mersey.
However, now the Department for Transport has said that bi-mode trains will run on a battery from West and South Yorkshire to Hull.
Lord McCobb said: "The Government put its name to a promise to electrify the line between Hull, Leeds and Sheffield. It's there in black and white.
“Now we're told about battery trains running on the same old track, and that the Hull to Sheffield run will be thought about at some point in the future. That's not what Hull was promised.
"It is currently faster to get from London to Paris than from Hull to Liverpool.
“Hull and East Yorkshire have been left behind and held back for so many years, and this promise has been made, remade and broken for more than a decade.
"The Conservatives turned electrification down. Labour signed up to it and then walked away. We now have a Prime Minister who built his reputation championing the North. He can put it right.
"If ministers won't answer the question, I'll keep asking it. People in Hull and East Yorkshire have been sidelined by successive governments for far too long, and it's time we took a proper stand.”
Lord Hendy, the Rail Minister, responded: “The Government is committed to ensuring NPR services reach Hull.
“The TransPennine Route Upgrade programme is procuring 29 new battery-electric trains for the TransPennine network, enabling electric train services to operate to Hull, and improved connectivity to Leeds, Manchester and beyond.
“The Department will work with Network Rail to ensure that the infrastructure required to support battery-electric operation is also capable of supporting future NPR bi-mode trains serving Hull.”