how frequently does the letter t appear in:
the north east needs to “stick a bit of rocket fuel” under its demands for vital investment in the east coast main line (ecml) to ensure the region can cope when new high-speed trains arrive.
that was the message from council leaders on tuesday, as fears surfaced once again that the north east will be left behind when the hs2 network — linking london with birmingham, leeds, and manchester — is up and running.
the region’s transport bosses say that, as is stands, hs2 trains will be “on a system that is not fit to run fast trains” once they get north of york, with a major cash injection needed to improve an ecml service already plagued by disruption.
coun martin gannon, gateshead council leader and chair of the north east joint transport committee (jtc), said that the government needs to “step up to the plate” and meet the region’s “incredibly modest” demands.
newcastle city council’s labour leader nick forbes added that hs2 would be “seriously limited” without better infrastructure in the north, saying: “anybody who travels up or down the line on a regular basis will know how vulnerable it is to disruption.
he also told the jtc: “we need to get network rail to think now about the investment to be made in the next five years to enable us to be part of the high speed network. if that does not happen for now then we will lose the opportunity.
leaders are calling for the ecml to be upgraded so it can cope with 140mph trains, and for the line to be extended to four tracks north of york rather than the current two — a problem which means the network struggles to cope at times of disruption.
at the jtc meeting in gateshead, the region’s leaders also approved a submission to the department for transport arguing the case for an expanded metro and local light rail network.
coun gannon said that improved train services were vital to tackling the region’s air pollution problems, with viable alternatives needed to stop people from driving to work in newcastle and gateshead.

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In that passage, there are 176 occurrences of the letter "t."
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