MORE electrification and a London Underground extension are reported to be among the capital projects which the Chancellor is set to confirm in tomorrow's autumn spending statement.
George Osborne is expected to unveil a number of projects, including the electrification of the North TransPennine line between Manchester and Leeds.
A proposed extension of the London Underground Northern Line to Battersea is also likely to get the go-ahead, while the development of the Tyne & Wear Metro is expected to be 'accelerated'.
The Metro has already received a £350 million injection from the Department for Transport to modernise the 31-year old system, although this was only awarded on condition that Tyne & Wear PTE (Nexus) created a third-party operating concession, which started in April last year.
Meanwhile, there has been more early reaction to the Chancellor's expected reduction of January's regulated rail fare rises from RPI+3 per cent to RPI+1 per cent, which is believed to have followed a submission to the Treasury from the new transport secretary, Justine Greening.
The Campaign for Better Transport said the lower increase was 'only a start' of the process of reforming rail fares.
Alexandra Woodsworth of CBT said: "This is very welcome news. We know from our Fair Fares Now campaign just how unpopular these rises were among passengers, particularly at a time when household budgets are so under pressure.
"But this is only a start – we already have some of the highest commuter fares in Europe and the fares system is confusing and unfair. The Government's forthcoming review of ticketing must make rail fares simpler and fairer as well as cheaper."
The TSSA union warned that fares were still set to 'rocket' by more than 20 per cent over the next three years.
The union's recently-appointed general secretary Manual Cortes said: "Instead of mugging passengers and taking increases of 8.2 per cent, Mr Osborne prefers to pick their pockets and take an averge 6.2 per cent in January.
"He thinks by playing Fagin instead of Bill Sykes, he can win some plaudits from hard pressed passengers. He's wrong: these increases will still mean real hardship for millions of families.
"And in the South East, the average means some eye watering fare increases of more than 10 per cent, adding an extra £1,000 on long distance season tickets over the next three years."
Mr Cortes called on the government to go further by also scrapping the RPI + 3 per cent increases which are currently due to follow in 2013 and 2014, and to adopt the LibDem policy of RPI – 1 per cent instead.