There are only two places that I see would benefit from a Metro extension Washington and Newcastle West End. For all other areas that have proposed extensions I see some kind of bus or tram shuttle to connect to Metro interchanges.
For the west end extension I can see no feasible above ground route, and tunnelling would be too expensive. Additionally, given the history of the area there would also be a lot archaeology work adding to the cost. For this area I see trams, trolleybuses or prioritised/separated bus routes.
The often cited proposal to Washington is for Metros to run along the Leamside Line. It could work but it does mean skirting around the outside of Washington. I see from Bing Maps there is a the alignment of an old line that branches off the Leamside Line towards Chester-le-Street in the south of Washington so a Metro extension could use the Leamside Line to skirt around the edge of Washington before heading off towards Chester-le-Street. However, Id prefer the Leamside Line to be reopened to heavy rail and freight traffic. Quite frankly, this seems a no-brainer to me and I dont understand why it hasnt been done yet.
So I dont see the Metro being extended in its current guise.
If funding was available for new rail projects in the region then I would prefer it to be spent on local heavy rail services. Having moved back up here from London, my view is rail is woefully under-utilised in the region, especially in Cramlington and Morpeth, and there is huge potential to switch car journeys to rail with the right infrastructure and marketing. My vision is to divert or widen the ECML between NCL and MPT and use the current infrastructure for a local rail services building new stations at Heaton/Byker, Coast Road (parkway), Forest Hall, West Moor/Killingworth, Dudley, South Cramlington/A19 (parkway). Introduce modern, electric stock and a regular 15 minute service and Im convinced it would work. I know a lot of people prefer to travel on rail rather than buses. Some services could extend to Newcastle Business Park/Scotswood and there could be a station at the Arena for event nights only. Open up the ABT and Leamside Line served by modern diesel stock and youve got yourself a decent little rail network. Outside the scope of this discussion Id also consider running semi-fast Electric regional services to Berwick supplemented by a 2 hourly electric stopping service to Berwick.
As for the Metro Centre I dont see the need for the Metro to be extended there, although having said that I can see a potential market from Sunderland/South Tyneside avoiding Newcastle. My preference again is to improve the Rail offering in terms of stock and frequency along the Tyne Valley line. Id also wonder if there is a market for direct services from Durham and Chester-le-Street.
I know it would be hugely expensive to deliver any of this, but I believe this is what the region needs and should be looking at achieving. Most other metropolitian districts have an extensive rail network and to take some pressure off the roads we need to be looking at something similar. At the very minimum I think you could have more services using existing infrastructure particularly in the peak serving Morpeth and Cramlington. I think Cramlington has huge untapped rail potential and its proximity to the A19/A1/A189 makes it a good candidate for a park and ride station but that would mean moving the station.
For the west end extension I can see no feasible above ground route, and tunnelling would be too expensive. Additionally, given the history of the area there would also be a lot archaeology work adding to the cost. For this area I see trams, trolleybuses or prioritised/separated bus routes.
The often cited proposal to Washington is for Metros to run along the Leamside Line. It could work but it does mean skirting around the outside of Washington. I see from Bing Maps there is a the alignment of an old line that branches off the Leamside Line towards Chester-le-Street in the south of Washington so a Metro extension could use the Leamside Line to skirt around the edge of Washington before heading off towards Chester-le-Street. However, Id prefer the Leamside Line to be reopened to heavy rail and freight traffic. Quite frankly, this seems a no-brainer to me and I dont understand why it hasnt been done yet.
So I dont see the Metro being extended in its current guise.
If funding was available for new rail projects in the region then I would prefer it to be spent on local heavy rail services. Having moved back up here from London, my view is rail is woefully under-utilised in the region, especially in Cramlington and Morpeth, and there is huge potential to switch car journeys to rail with the right infrastructure and marketing. My vision is to divert or widen the ECML between NCL and MPT and use the current infrastructure for a local rail services building new stations at Heaton/Byker, Coast Road (parkway), Forest Hall, West Moor/Killingworth, Dudley, South Cramlington/A19 (parkway). Introduce modern, electric stock and a regular 15 minute service and Im convinced it would work. I know a lot of people prefer to travel on rail rather than buses. Some services could extend to Newcastle Business Park/Scotswood and there could be a station at the Arena for event nights only. Open up the ABT and Leamside Line served by modern diesel stock and youve got yourself a decent little rail network. Outside the scope of this discussion Id also consider running semi-fast Electric regional services to Berwick supplemented by a 2 hourly electric stopping service to Berwick.
As for the Metro Centre I dont see the need for the Metro to be extended there, although having said that I can see a potential market from Sunderland/South Tyneside avoiding Newcastle. My preference again is to improve the Rail offering in terms of stock and frequency along the Tyne Valley line. Id also wonder if there is a market for direct services from Durham and Chester-le-Street.
I know it would be hugely expensive to deliver any of this, but I believe this is what the region needs and should be looking at achieving. Most other metropolitian districts have an extensive rail network and to take some pressure off the roads we need to be looking at something similar. At the very minimum I think you could have more services using existing infrastructure particularly in the peak serving Morpeth and Cramlington. I think Cramlington has huge untapped rail potential and its proximity to the A19/A1/A189 makes it a good candidate for a park and ride station but that would mean moving the station.
