The big issue for me is that in the last, cash has been squandered. We can accept public transport will never make a profit but when money has been given out, I don’t trust it will be spent well.

Can you look at any of our leaders, companies, transport bodies and point to one positive thing they’ve done in recent memory to support public transport outside of grandstanding and Willy waving? One point where they haven’t squandered money. All the successful transport projects of recent years have been centrally planned and funded (A1, A19) Even the metro extension to Sunderland has been a disaster

Our local leaders et all are utterly insipid and if I’m a very senior civil servant under pressure to make minimal funding available…Gannon, Kemp and Hughes are at the very very very bottom of my list.