Metro mayors across the country have welcomed the commitment which sees £5.7Bn allocated as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and a further £1.2Bn promised to improve bus infrastructure, fares and services.

“Great cities need great transport and that is why we’re investing billions to improve connections in our city regions as we level up opportunities across the country,” Rishi Sunak said. “There is no reason why somebody working in the north or Midlands should have to wait longer for their bus or train to arrive in the morning compared to a commuter in the capital,” he added.

Greater Manchester was the biggest winner of sustainable transport funding, receiving £1.07Bn which is expected to go towards initiatives including new Metrolink tram-train vehicles and creation of the ‘Bee’ active travel network.

The city region’s mayor Andy Burnham described the announcement as “a big step towards a London style, public transport system for Greater Manchester”.

The West Midlands receives £1.05Bn to extend its ‘Metro’ tram network, provide new ultra rapid electric vehicle charging stations and complete phase two of its ‘Sprint’ bus rapid transit across Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country.

Mayor Andy Street said: “This cash will help us to continue to build a clean, green transport network that connects communities and tackles the climate emergency. It is the largest single transport sum we have ever received, and I know the team cannot wait to press on and start getting diggers in the ground on some truly game changing schemes.”

West Yorkshire wins the third highest allocation of £830M, which could fund schemes such as a cycle superhighway extension in Bradford and improvements to the A61 between Wakefield and Leeds to support bus and active travel connectivity.

The region’s mayor Tracy Brabin welcomed the funding but said: “Our region needs even more, and with certainty over a longer time period, if the Government is truly committed to levelling up.

“As the Prime Minister said, it is indeed a disgrace that West Yorkshire is the only major region in Western Europe without a metro system, so we desperately need the Government to address years of under investment in transport in our region.”

Further money was allocated to South Yorkshire (£570M), the Tees Valley (£310M), the West of England (£540M) and Liverpool City Region (£710M).

Campaign for Better Transport head of policy and research Silviya Barrett said: “This investment in trams, trains and active travel is welcome. All cities deserve high quality, sustainable transport and clean air.

“The funding for buses – with its focus on simpler, cheaper fares, more services and new bus priority measures – is also to be celebrated. But we are concerned that the competitive funding process for buses could mean that investment does not reach everywhere that needs it,” she added.

“Many areas have bus fares that are too high and gaping holes in services, so they need funding to put their ‘Bus Service Improvement Plans’ in place. We also want to see many more zero emission buses introduced.”