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This was according to Dennis Fancett – chairman of the SENRUG voluntary group that campaigns for better rail services in South East and East Northumberland, which organised the event.

Just under 60 people packed into Morpeth Town Hall last Thursday to hear some of the candidates and a representative for one of the candidates set out their public transport policies and take questions from the audience.

Topics debated included the strong concern over the service reductions proposed by the train companies for the December 2024 timetable and the need to integrate buses with trains, particularly with Morpeth’s new bus route 777 to Newcastle International Airport.

From left: Thom Campion on behalf of Aidan King [Liberal Democrat], Jamie Driscoll [current North of Tyne Mayor who is standing as an independent], Dennis Fancett, Andrew Gray [Green], Guy Renner-Thompson [Conservative] and Paul Donaghy [Reform UK]. Kim McGuinness, the Labour Party candidate, was also invited but unable to attend and no representative from the Labour party was available to speak on her behalf. Picture by Andrew Carmichael.

The requirement for a better local rail service serving all the smaller stations between Morpeth and Berwick was also raised, as was the need for a simpler fares policy.

Mr Fancett said: “Normally, we have a speaker from one of the train companies or someone closely related to the rail industry.

“However, the new Mayor will assume responsibility for the entire North East, including public transport policy. As such, we thought it important that both our members and the wider community heard what each candidate would do if elected and had the chance to ask questions and express concerns.”

There was also praise for SENRUG’s work campaigning for the Northumberland Line for the last 19 years and strong commitment for further extensions to it once opened.

SENRUG North East mayor hustings in Morpeth hailed a success