THE government has been accused of pro-London bias after agreeing to hand over billions for transport projects in the capital.

Greater Manchester MPs are set for an angry showdown with transport secretary Ruth Kelly today after Gordon Brown agreed to provide £5.2bn towards the cost of a cross-London rail service.

Ms Kelly, MP for Bolton West, will be grilled by the Commons select committee on transport, which includes Manchester Blackley MP Graham Stringer and Manchester Withington MP John Leech.

Her appearance follows a number of controversial decisions in which London-based projects have been given the go-ahead - while the north has been left waiting for money.

The prime minister announced earlier this month that the Treasury would contribute one third of the £16bn cost of the London Crossrail project.

The announcement came just a day after the Department for Transport promised a feasibility study into a major increase of capacity at Manchester's Piccadilly station. Network Rail has been asked to pursue the matter as a priority - but there has been no promise of extra cash.

No justification

Transport minister Jim Fitzpatrick has also poured cold water on a £30bn high-speed rail link from London to Manchester, telling the Commons there was `presently no justification... for such expenditure'.

Meanwhile, the government has also given the green light to a £3.5bn upgrade of London's Thameslink train network.

Greater Manchester council is bidding for £3bn from the Transport Innovation Fund to complete the `Big Bang' Metrolink extension and pay for extra rail and bus services and more Metrolink improvements.

The bid includes a pledge to introduce a peak-hour congestion charge of up to £5 a day.

The government had agreed to a funding package of £520m for the original smaller Metrolink plan but withdrew the offer after costs spiralled.

The money was put back on the table only after a massive campaign, led by the M.E.N.

The cost of just the original plan is now estimated at more than £1bn - and the government says the Transport Innovation Fund is now the only viable source of funding.

Mr Stringer said last night: "When you put the £16bn for Crossrail, £3.5bn for Thameslink and the £6bn benefits of the Olympics to London against the comparatively trivial amount for Metrolink, you see that the government has got its regional policy wrong."

Mr Leech said: "There is a big London bias as far as I am concerned.

"You only have to look at the figures to prove it. Manchester and the rest of the country are getting nothing."

A DfT spokeswoman said: “Transport funding for the north west has more than doubled since the start ofthis decade.

“DfT has provided substantial funding forpublic transport improvements recently – including £8.6bn for modernising the West Coast Mainline and conditional approval for a£520m extension of the Metrolink.”