A county transport chief has pledged to battle for funds to revitalise the region's rail network after the Government published its ten-year railway improvement plan.

West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority chairman Councillor Mick Lyons said the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) proposals could mark a "turning point" for the crisis hit industry.

The Government has set aside £34.5 billion to tackle a range of problems over the next ten years -- including skills shortages, ageing trains, poorly equipped stations and below-target passenger levels.

In this region specifically the SRA aims to boost passenger numbers by 50 per cent and to cut over-crowding.

But Councillor Lyons said sufficient and targeted funding would be needed to achieve those goals.

He said: "The SRA has indicated a 15 per cent increase in funding, mainly to tackle congestion in London and the South East.

"Metro will be putting forward vigorous arguments to ensure the additional funding we require for the delivery of our own local rail plan is also allocated to local services in West Yorkshire.

"I want to see the SRA take a robust and consistent approach, which takes into account the major investment needed both for vehicles and infrastructure to put right the problems that have plagued local services since privatisation."

Local passengers have had a particularly rough ride in recent months due to widespread delays and a reduction of services on lines -- including Airedale -- operated by Arriva Trains Northern.

But Steve Broadbent, local co-ordinator of the Yorkshire and the Humber Transport Activists Roundtable, said he was far from convinced that the new plans would improve matters.

He said: "The strategic plan is a disaster for the Yorkshire and Humber region.

"While London and the South East get billions for new stock and infrastructure projects, the region gets as near zero as makes no difference.

"The East Coast Mainline upgrade gets no nearer, there is no mention of any significant infrastructure project due to start this side of 2007, and no mention of additional rolling stock to reduce the over-crowding on local trains or to cope with demand."

Mr Broadbent said that only ten of the 18 second-hand carriages identified by the SRA for the region in February 2001, had been found -- and would not arrive until November 2002.

Friends of the Earth, meanwhile, have also questioned how the plan can succeed without much greater funding.

Regional rail campaigner Richard Dyer said: "There are real doubts about whether or not the huge private sector investment needed will ever materialise. If we want a rail system across the country to match the best of Europe then Gordon Brown will have to put his hand a bit deeper into his pocket."