A fresh push is being made to convince the Government to back a £1bn rail line seen as crucial to the North East’s economy.
A cross-party group of politicians has been joined by business leaders and activists to highlight the potential for re-opening the Leamside Line through Gateshead, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham.
The line runs close to a number of key jobs sites, with local leaders gathering at the point yesterday where the line runs just yards from the new Amazon warehouse at Follingsby, Gateshead.
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Transport leaders say re-opening the line would allow them to extend the Metro to Washington, improve reliability on the East Coast mainline and provide better passenger services to a number of towns and villages in the North East.
Re-opening the line would cost hundreds of millions, however, and has not been identfied as a priority by the Government.
Now, however, there are hopes that the new devolution deals for the North East and County Durham identified in the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper could provide an impetus to get the line re-opened.
North East Labour MPs Liz Twist and Sharon Hodgson yesterday joined Conservative counterpart Paul Howell in pushing for the project while Mrs Hodgson has secured a debate in Parliament on the merits of reopening the line next week.
Tobyn Hughes, managing director at Transport North East, said: “This is such a huge opportunity for bringing jobs to the area, linking up communities and helping to take cars off the main roads.
“We’ve got one business case already in development using this stretch of the line to take the Metro to Washington. There’s an extra piece of work that will look at taking passenger trains further south through County Durham and then bringing the overall line together.
“We’re going to work with the Government and our local authorities to work out how to get the scheme funded. It’s a big job. It’s going to take 10-15 years but it can be opened in stages in order to make sure we can get some benefits early on.
“The devolution deal for the North East would have a significant transport pot. The scale of the costs of re-opening a scheme like this would exceed the amount of money in that pot but we will have some money locally to do feasibility and engineering studies, and then moving to actually delivering some of the project.”
The North East joint transport committee has begun work exploring the possibility of extending the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington using the Leamside Line.
Future work will also include studies into passenger services through County Durham to a reopened Ferryhill station, and the use of the line for freight.
Much of the line still exists and could be opened reasonably easily, but in other locations only the track bed remained and it would require major projects to take the line over rivers and new roads.
Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon, who is also chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee, said: “The Leamside Line is one of our top priorities and its reopening would change the socio-economic future of the North East. We need the Leamside Line reopened and our political and business communities are absolutely united on this. I’m delighted see such strong support today from some of the line’s most vocal supporters.
“Places like Follingsby, Washington and Ferryhill are crying out for direct rail connectivity, and we must continue to call for investment in this critical piece of railway infrastructure. Leamside has the potential to be game-changing – let’s make it a reality for the people of the North East.”
The project has also been backed by business leaders, with Lesley Moody, president of the North East England Chamber of Commerce saying it was “essential to see investment in our rail connections as this infrastructure has such a key part to play if we are to be levelled up in any meaningful sense.” Lucy Winskell, chair of the North East LEP said it would “open up vital transport links for communities in the surrounding areas and give increased access to employment and leisure opportunities.”
Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “Reopening the Leamside Line is not just critical for connectivity in the region, it’s vital for the whole Northern Powerhouse. It could provide much-needed freight capacity, while playing a key role in Northern Powerhouse Rail by opening up Newcastle, Gateshead and Northumberland to those travelling from Liverpool and Manchester for business or leisure.”
