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Labour's candidate to become the next Tees Valley Mayor has pledged to bring a metro-style bus and rail system to Teesside.

Arriving on a classic red London bus, Jessie Joe Jacobs was joined by shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald at Burbank Community Centre in Hartlepool.

Speaking from the back of the classic Routemaster, she launched three pledges for transport in Teesside - saying it was about more than holiday flights.

Ms Jacobs said: "We currently have a mayor who thinks the biggest challenge is how easily we can get to Alicante.

"Well I'm telling him this - the biggest challenge is that people can't get to hospital, people are offered jobs and cant take them because they have no public transport."

Announcing her three pledges, Ms Jacobs added: "Firstly it's looking to re-regulate these bus services, giving people the power and influence to set those routes, to make sure they come to the places they need.

"Secondly, it's not just about buses, it's also about cycleways.

"We have to also know that, even though these are very local issues, we're in the middle of the biggest international crisis we've ever faced - the climate crisis.

"We have to be looking to how people use public transport more, to how we use cars less.

"And across the globe people are looking for solutions around transport, around cycle and around rail.

"We're also going to see a revolution in cycling, making sure there are place for you to park your bike - the cycle hub in Stockton is a brilliant idea that I want to see replicated across the Tees Valley.

"And thirdly, in my 10-year plan, we will secure the funding we need from central government to develop a metro-style rail and bus service because if we can increase those stations on the lines we already have, we'll also be able to revive the railways."

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Levelling up with an oven-ready deal

As Ms Jacobs continued, she used some of the catchphrases employed by Boris Johnson during last year's General Election campaign.

Mimicking the prime minister's "oven ready Brexit deal" Ms Jacobs said plans for a Tees Valley Metro were similarly ready to "level-up" the region's transport network.

"Nothing should be off the table," she said.

"Because our current Conservative Government has said they want to level-up so what I am saying is, here is a ready made, oven ready deal.

"A plan for you to level-upHartlepool , to level-up inMiddlesbrough , to level-up Port Clarance, to level-up inRedcar , to level-up in Darlington, by investing in our railways.

"The south are getting HS2, they're getting Crossrail and what are we getting? Some upgrades to our train stations , it's not enough, it's not enough."

"Stockton to Darlington in the Tees Valley was the place where we had the very first passenger route so why not have the first ever hydrogen route right here?"

Resurrecting the Tees Valley Metro

Plans for a Tees Valley Metro can be traced as far back as 2008 as plans were made to improve the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line.

In 2010, the Government cancelled the plans citing a lack of funding.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Jacobs said that, because much of the planning work had already been done, her proposals were about resurrecting those plans.

"We've got the existing rail lines, but it's about introducing new stations and regular routes so that you're not having to wait as you do with some of the issues we have at the moment," she said.

"I think the main priority is about increasing the capacity.

"At the moment, like I said, it would be a fraction of the price and the plans were mooted a few years ago - it's about resurrecting those plans."

'We should have same ambition as London'

Mr McDonald, the MiddlesbroughLabour MP, introduced Ms Jacobs and said the party's plan was to take advantage of full powers over public transport, similar to how they are used in London.

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"You see that Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram doing the same thing in Manchester and Liverpool respectively," he said.

"You go to London now and see the roll out of electric buses across the capital and it is transforming the city of London.

"We should have the same ambition in the Tees Valley and there's no reason why we shouldn't be doing that."

Incumbent not impressed

But the current Tees Valley Mayor and Conservative candidate in May's election, Ben Houchen, doubted Ms Jacobs' plans.

He said: "You can’t just add extra trains on the line. It doesn’t work like that.

"The railway station upgrades are essential. If you don’t upgrade Darlington Station then you can’t add a single extra train to the local line, which is why we’re asking Government for £80m to go with the £25m I’ve committed to do just that.

"She needs to do her homework.”