'It is hugely frustrating this money sits unspent'

HUGE sums of money to upgrade the North East’s transport network are not being spent as planned, it has emerged.

- DANIEL HOLLAND

Promised measures totalling nearly £100m which had been due this year will not be made on schedule, according to data being presented to the region’s leaders tomorrow.

A passenger group has labelled the lack of progress “hugely frustrating” and demanded answers on why money is not being spent.

Various Government transport funding pots allocated to local councils by North East mayor Kim McGuinness to improve bus journeys, cycle routes, and other travel are expected to report heavy underspends in 2025/26.

That includes the flagship Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which leaders have pledged will deliver changes that make the region's buses cheaper, faster, and more reliable.

Only £16m of a scheduled £66m worth of BSIP-backed schemes across the North East are set to come to fruition this year, says a report going to the North East Combined Authority (NECA) cabinet next week.

There is also a £34.8m capital underspend forecast on the North East's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement programme and a further £10.5m of other transport capital.

NECA indicated that a “small number” of projects had either been delayed, scaled back, or cancelled entirely - with a potential bus lane on the Coast Road in Newcastle one idea that has been scrapped.