THE Tories were accused of cynical electioneering yesterday after they shelved a major rail investment scheme, just weeks after using it to bolster their election campaign.

The Midland mainline and Transpennine routes in the north rail routes will be left with ageing diesel engines following a government decision to “pause” plans for electrification.

A spluttering Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin admitted Network Rail’s progress on its infrastructure was “not good enough,” saying the Tories’ feted £38 billion five-year plan was “overambitious.”

The scheme would have seen overhead wires de-fume key services from London to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Placating MPs in marginal Midlands seats, scab miner Mr McLoughlin said electrification “will be part of our future plans for the route.

“We want it to be done and we want it to be done well,” he insisted.

The Tories’ election campaign specifically referenced “electrifying the Midland mainline from St Pancras to Sheffield,” saying this would put “the Midlands at the centre of a modern, interconnected transport network for the UK.” The pledge was also frequently referred to by Chancellor George Osborne as part of his “plan for the Midlands.”

Leicester South’s Labour MP Jon Ashworth demanded: “Why didn’t cowardly Tory ministers have guts to tell East Midlands voters they were to ‘pause’ Midland mainline electrification before the election?”

Train drivers’ union Aslef blamed the fragmentation of the rail industry, saying this was “the result of privatisation.

“The government is letting down passengers, letting down business, letting down the train operating companies and letting down those of who work on the railway,” the union’s general secretary Mick Whelan said.