A regional daily has accused the government of “insulting” its patch after announcing a planned rail electrification scheme may not go ahead.

The Manchester Evening News and Yorkshire Post both successfully campaigned in 2015 to get then-Chancellor George Osborne to reverse the decision to pause electrification work between Manchester and Leeds.

But current Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has now said the planned improvement may not go ahead, but has subsequently announced London’s £30bn Crossrail 2 scheme does have his backing.

The MEN has hit out at the decision in an editorial in yesterday’s edition, in which it described the U-turn as an “insult to our city”.

It reads: “Two years ago ministers promised a fully electrified Manchester to Leeds rail line would be ‘at the heart’ of the Northern Powerhouse. After pausing it for a ‘review’, they swiftly un-paused it in the face of public outrage and a campaign by the Manchester Evening News and other northern titles. Last week they broke that promise.

“Incredibly transport secretary Chris Grayling let slip that not only might it not happen, but that Manchester Piccadilly’s platform extension may not either. And if that was the injury, this week brings the final insult.

“Grayling saved the real sting for Monday morning, when he announced that unlike northern commuters, London’s staggeringly expensive £30bn Crossrail 2 scheme does have his backing.

“If the howls of fury from passengers crammed onto creaking Transpennine commuter trains cannot not be heard in Whitehall, it’s only because government has wedged on its tin hat tightly enough to block them out.”

The MEN went on to suggest that if Ministers did not think “pathetic northern rail services” were not worthy of a full upgrade, then they should try using them.

It added: “They would quickly find that while they can get from the capital to Manchester in two hours, on a bad day it can sometimes take the same time again to reach Bolton. They would find slow, sardine-tin Pacer trains if they’re lucky. If not, they would find a replacement bus. They would find no wi-fi.

“They would find journeys that take the same time today that they did in the 1960s, but for many, many times the price. And they would find billions lost to the northern economy because in 2017 – people still cannot get themselves directly from one side of the Pennines to another – a distance shorter than London Underground’s Central Line.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are investing around £40 billion in our network as part of the biggest rail modernisation programme for over a century to provide faster journeys and more comfortable trains. This includes delivering improved journeys for passengers right across the North.”