Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Scarborough and Whitby has called for an “end to rail misery” with a new Great British Railways.

Labour candidate Alison Hume is backing her Party’s plans to create a new public body to run the railways when contracts with private operators expire.

She said that the body, Great British Railways, would provide local passengers with a “more reliable and frequent service” after “constituents have been let down by unreliable and inefficient train services for too long”.

Conservative candidate Roberto Weeden-Sanz criticised the “incoherent and ideological plans” which he said would “just give the trade unions even more power and take us back to the seventies, prolonging unaffordable and unfair working practices”.

The Government has already started its own plans to create a Great British Railways modelled on some of Transport for London’s practices, while Network Rail has been on the state’s books for a decade.

Ms Hume said: “Local operators TPE and Northern Rail are currently being run under an ‘operator of last resort’ arrangement.

“Under the Great British Railways, they will be freed from this limbo and taken into the wider network meaning local passengers will enjoy a more reliable and frequent service. Our railways will be run for the passengers once again rather than just for profit.”

She added that Labour’s plan to create Great British Railways would mean “reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality train services, no matter where you live.”

Conservative candidate Mr Weeden-Sanz said: “I am campaigning to improve our local rail services so that we can get regular and more reliable trains in both Whitby to get to Middlesbrough and from Scarborough to Hull and York. And I will work to get a service that takes us from Scarborough directly to Manchester airport.

“We need a new generation to represent us to make sure we are not forgotten about at the end of the A64 and I am the only candidate committed to continuing the campaign to dual it.”

He added that the Conservative’s proposed Rail Reform Bill – also including a Great British Railways – would “reform outdated working practises in the industry”.

Councillors and locals have long called for improved rail services from coastal areas including Whitby, alongside proposals for half-hourly trains between Scarborough and York.

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary said: “Plans to get Britain moving are crucial to delivering our missions for Government by boosting productivity and driving growth.

“A growing economy and public services fit for the future need a modern transport system to support the flow of people and goods across the country.”