At a transport-themed hustings in March 2024, at Newcastle University, in the run-up to the North East Combined Authority Mayoral election, the six main candidates all agreed that it was important to listen to communities and ask them what their transport needs are and also all seemed to agree that the region needs a fully integrated public transport system.
The eventual winner of the election last May, Kim McGuiness, argued that everyone should have access to opportunities, so we need a public transport system that works for passengers not simply to produce profit for private companies. McGuiness also pledged if elected, to bring buses back into public control by 2028 and argued that that would be quicker with a Labour government.
Further to this McGuinness claimed that we need a fleet of new buses on an integrated public transport system and that we also need the Metro expanded and to open up the Leamside Line which is of national importance.
Working towards the Leamside Line
It was interesting therefore, to read that designs for critical infrastructure needed to finally bring the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington, including for new railway stations, and bridges are being drawn up. This is all being done in order to try and win Government support for the £900 million vision.
It was also noted that Kim McGuinness, the North East Mayor, has pledged to deliver what would be the first extension of the Metro system for more than 20 years by “opening a new route to Washington, one of the largest towns in the country without rail services.”
On 29 May, Metro operator Nexus announced that a major feasibility study for the project and specialist design work, is being carried out by engineering consultants Arup. The move comes almost a year after McGuinness pledged up to £8 million to kickstart the scheme.
When local leaders lobby the government for the £900 million of public funding that would be needed to actually build the extension, it is hoped that the designs will be of great assistance. It was said that “the proposed Washington Metro Loop would use the southern section of the mothballed Leamside railway line to form a link between the existing stations at Pelaw and South Hylton”.
An indicative map of the line developed by Transport North East suggests that it could have two stations; one at Follingsby near the junction of the A194 (M) and the A184 and crucially a station in Washington. This would be highly appropriate as Washington is the fourth biggest town in England, without a train station.
Full details of the economic benefits of the 13 km rail extension, where Metro trains would stop in the area, and the true cost of the project are expected to be revealed during the development of the outline business case.
The Leamside Line
There is also a wider ambition at work here; the development of the Washington Metro Loop represents the first section of a plan to reopen the entire Leamside Line. This line runs down through County Durham and could allow for the launch of new Tyne-Tees train services.
It has been noted by the BBC that “trains could also run through communities on the southern section of the route if that is restored”. This in turn could lead to new stations at Penshaw, Fencehouses, West Rainton, a Durham Parkway station at Belmont, and one to serve Shincliffe and Bowburn, before connecting to Ferryhill.
Another major milestone
Ms McGuinness said: “I said that I will bring the Metro to Washington and I’m delivering on that promise. I’m delighted we have reached another major milestone with the appointment of Arup, who will now provide specialist design work for the project.
“Last summer, I announced £8 million to kick-start work to bring the Metro to Washington which is a major part of my ambition to re-open the whole Leamside rail route through County Durham and Sunderland. I am determined to transform our transport network to change the lives of local people for generations to come.
“This project will be the biggest expansion of the Metro for more than 20 years – and it will be just as transformative as the Sunderland line was when it first opened back in 2002. This is such an exciting time for rail in the North East as we see these projects come to life.”
Comment
This is very welcome news. Since the general election last year, we have heard little of the much-needed move towards a just transition to a greener economy in the North East. However, the need for it hasn’t gone away, as the Climate Crisis deepens and the isolation of people without cars in the region similarly grows, as young people are unable to attend college or work opportunities, while older people feel trapped in their immediate locality.
The extension of the Metro to Washington, Follingsby and round to Heworth, followed by the reopening of the entire Leamside Line, from Tyneside to Ferryhill, could be a major building block in the development of the kind of improved public transport system we need in the North East in the third decade of the 21st century.
The development of a stronger, greener economy in the region is a huge task, but it is exactly this kind of initiative that is needed if it is, hopefully, going to come to pass.
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