A rail plan that punishes London will be a train wreck for the regions, too

Northern cities need a flourishing capital, so there will be no winners from the downgrading of transport schemes

Those MPs in the north and west of England who believed Boris Johnson when he promised to level up the regions will be drowning their sorrows this weekend. The prime minister's flagship integrated rail plan was revealed to be not much more than reheated and piecemeal improvements to existing rail lines.

Leeds will be allowed to move ahead with a tram system connecting the city and its nearest neighbours. A couple of electrification projects mothballed in 2017 have secured another lease of life. But otherwise the word integrated" in the document's title falls foul of the Trade Descriptions Act.