Leaders from across the north of England are heading to Leeds for a transport summit on Wednesday, January 8 to try and tackle the issues that commuters face on a daily basis.
Among those in attendance at the Transport for the North committee in Leeds will be transport secretary, Grants Shapps MP.
Mr Shapps' visit will come less than a week after he confirmed that the government is considering plans to strip Northern of its rail franchise.
He will sit on a panel at the Transport for the North board meeting alongside political leaders from Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, among others.
Leeds and many other northern cities have long since complained about a lack of investment in public transport compared to the capital.
Figures released by the Treasury in 2018 showed that the government spent three times more per head on transport in London than it did in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2017/18.
However, soon after his General Election victory in December 2019, prime minister Boris Johnson said that he would "remedy the scandal" of Leeds having no mass transit system and announced plans for a £4.2 billion spending splurge on transport to boost public transport.
Representatives from HS2 will also be on the Transport for the North panel in Leeds just days after fresh concerns were raised about the feasibility of the project, which could see costs spiral to more than £100 billion.
TransPennine Express chiefs will be in Leeds too, as passengers continue to face weeks of disruption due to mass cancellations.
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