New analysis has revealed that the Department for Transport will be spending £1869 per person in London over the next four years of Conservative government – compared to just £280 per person in the North of England.

In particular, the new Crossrail ‘Elizabeth’ tube line will cost around £4.6 billion in the next 4 years, which is more that on all projects across the whole of northern England (£4.3billion) combined.

There have been calls for the government to close this north-south divide, a point which Theresa May has previously stressed herself in terms of industrial strategy for Britain, but she has not yet endorsed former Chancellor Osbourne’s policy of promoting a ‘Northern Powerhouse’.

The figures have been released by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), who have described the lack of investment on transport links in the north as a ‘national disgrace’.

IPPR’s report found that the per capita spending in the North East will be around £300, the North West £290, Yorkshire and Humber just £250, and London £1900.

Ed Cox, who is the director of IPPR’s Northern office, suggested that this disparity across different parts of the country is linked to the referendum vote for Brexit.

“The referendum result showed that now more than ever, we need a ‘North First’ approach to investment,” he said. “To build Theresa May’s ‘Better Britain’, we must focus on a better North.”

The IPPR’s director in London, Tom Kibasi, said: “The time it takes to travel, on hugely dated infrastructure, between our great regional cities is a national disgrace – this is not what happens in Germany, Japan or France, with their fantastic rail links, or the United States, with its highly developed regional air travel.

“Given the Brexit result, the North of England must urgently see growing prosperity. A proper east-west crossing would boost northern and UK growth, and must now take priority above all other major transport projects, including Crossrail 2 and HS2.”