Labour today branded the campaign to improve journeys between Norwich and London a 'con', claiming no new money had been committed to infrastructure on the Great Eastern Main Line at all.

A political row over the campaign to improve the link between East Anglia and London erupted this evening after Labour branded the Norwich in Ninety announcement a 'con'.

Jessica Asato, a candidate hoping to take co-chair of the Great Eastern Rail Line campaign taskforce Chloe Smith's seat in the next election, said 'huge questions still remained' about where the money was going to come from for improvements to the track.

She claimed the campaign had been 'smoke and mirrors' and that 'not a single penny of new money' had been committed to infrastructure for the Great Eastern Mainline.

But Ms Smith hit back claiming it was a 'petty attack' and 'Labour was confused about money'. She said: 'Surely if they would match the investment they can answer their own question about where the money comes from? The improvements would be funded the way we expect: through the next franchise and the Network Rail budget. The improvements will happen within ten years, which we have always been honest about. In the meantime, passengers will start to see year on year improvements, starting in January 2015 (with the refresh of the new carriages) and ending with Norwich in 90 by 2024. There are also other wins coming good for the area from previous years of campaigning on rail, such as investment agreed before 2019 to upgrade the Ely junction which allows better service to Norwich. Norwich Labour backed that too but they say another thing now when they want to make a petty political point.' Questioned on when the aims of the report would be delivered, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said on Tuesday: 'In rail terms, the next five years I think would see quite of lot of what is being asked for in this report being delivered.'

Full Jessica Asato statement:

'What the final detail of the Autumn Statement has shown us is that Chloe Smith's campaign for extra investment in the Eastern region has been a con. Not a single penny of new money has been committed to infrastructure for the Great Eastern Mainline today at all. Instead we will have to wait until 2017 at the earliest to see whether the Norwich in Ninety campaign will ever come to fruition, and even if new money was committed then, it wouldn't start to come on track until 2019 - almost ten years after Chloe Smith and the Coalition government was elected.

'Huge questions remain about where the money is going to come from, for example, to pay for the upgrades which would be needed to many of the 89 level crossings on the Norwich to London route. This whole campaign has been about political smoke and mirrors promising improvements to a neglected rail infrastructure which are yet to materialise.

'Labour has promised to not only match any investment planned by the Government in the Eastern rail network, but actually act to solve the biggest issue on our railways - the extortionate above inflation fare increases of 20% since 2010. We'd cap annual fares, simplify fare structures and crate a new legal right to the cheapest ticket. We've also pledged to enable a public sector operator to take on rail lines and to devolve decisions over regional rail to local government thus ensuring we have a public transport network with decent connectivity and a vision which truly helps to drive economic growth in the region.'

Full Chloe Smith statement:

'This petty attack is an affront to the thousands of people who have backed the Great Eastern Rail Campaign, which Labour have previously been at pains to say they support when it suited them. For example, Labour Norwich City Council have backed the campaign throughout all the hard work, for the good reason that it's a good and successful campaign for our area. It's a shame if Labour can't even see a good thing for our economy which has been backed by thousands of passengers and businesses working together with MPs in Parliament.

'Labour is confused about money: surely if they would match the investment they can answer their own question about where the money comes from? The improvements would be funded the way we expect: through the next franchise and the Network Rail budget.

'The improvements will happen within ten years, which we have always been honest about. In the meantime, passengers will start to see year on year improvements, starting in January 2015 (with the refresh of the new carriages) and ending with Norwich in 90 by 2024. There are also other wins coming good for the area from previous years of campaigning on rail, such as investment agreed before 2019 to upgrade the Ely junction which allows better service to Norwich. Norwich Labour backed that too but they say another thing now when they want to make a petty political point.

'Now it seems that the Labour Party would wreck it all. If Ed Miliband took power next year and legislated for upheaval in the way that the railways are run, Labour would delay the investment in new carriages which will come from 2016 and Norwich rail passengers would be condemned to another decade of misery. You can have successful local campaigns with the Conservatives or dithering, confusion and hypocrisy with Labour.

'We have secured everything in this campaign that we have asked for. That's a great win, the best result we have ever had for the Norwich to London line, and I am unashamedly proud of having gone out to get a great result for my city and my region.'

Mark Pendlington, chairman of the New Anglia local enterprise partnership and co-chair of the Great Eastern Main Line Campaign statement:

'This has been a long, hard fought campaign by passengers, businesses, local authorities and MPs. WE are pleased with what we have achieved this week. The campaign now moves into project delivery to ensure the improvements are delivered on time, and to the high specifications we have set out, and the Government has agreed to.'