Don't forget the North East.

ONCE again we have seen proposals for a new high-speed rail link completely ignore the needs of the North East, its people and our business communities.

The proposed route will run from London via Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh, you couldn't build a rail line further away from the North East region if you tried.

The only way that this proposed route would be acceptable to the people of the North East would be to either upgrade the East Coast Mainline as a high-speed rail link, before or in tandem with this new route, or build a direct high-speed spur to the North East at the same time, thus giving our businesses the same opportunities as the Midlands and Western regions.

Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher said: "High-speed rail can transform Britain. It can promote economic growth, regeneration and social inclusion" but not, it seems, for us in the North East. To ignore the North East's needs for the next 20-plus years could undermine all the hard work that local councils and the regional regeneration organisations have done over the past 12 years and seriously damage our economy.

The North East is important, its economy is important, our workers are important and, as Nissan has proved, we can deliver the goods better that anyone in Europe. Don't let us become the forgotten part of the UK.

BOB PRICE, Fulwell, Sunderland,

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