The Government has scrapped plans to electrify three major railway lines in a move described by Labour as a “betrayal” of train passengers.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, announced plans for new trains which can run on both electricity and diesel to operate on the Midland Main Line, Great Western Main Line and in the Lake District.

The Department for Transport said the introduction of so-called “bi-mode” trains meant that long-awaited electrification works between Cardiff and Swansea, Kettering, Nottingham and Sheffield, and between Windermere and Oxenholme, were no longer needed.