Finally extending the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington can be the start of a “revolution” in the North East’s public transport, campaigners say.
The North East Sustainable Transport (NEST) Coalition has called for more investment to follow the long-awaited confirmation of the Metro network being expanded to the fourth largest town in England without a train service.
Part of a £1.85 billion transport funding allocation being handed to the region will be spent on the Washington Metro Loop, which would use the northern section of the mothballed Leamside Line to create a new route connecting to the existing Metro stations at Pelaw and South Hylton.
NEST hopes that the move, following on from the successful relaunch of the Northumberland Line between Newcastle and Ashington in 2024, could kickstart a push for more infrastructure upgrades that would make it much easier to travel around the North East and bring it closer to the kind of connectivity options available in the South East or in comparable city regions around Europe.
Spokesperson Alistair Ford said: “Rail has been the quickest, safest, and most efficient way of moving people around the North East since the days of George and Robert Stephenson. The tragic legacy of the 1960s Beeching cuts means that gaping holes are left in our region’s rail network, including the loss of lines to important centres like Washington, Consett, Alnwick, and Crook. Ironically, Washington lost its rail service in 1964, the very year that the construction of the New Town was announced. Of those lines that do remain, some local services have very limited timetables and poor accessibility for passengers with limited mobility.
“The announcement that services will be restored to Washington, giving people and businesses a vital rail link to Newcastle and Sunderland, is very welcome news, improving access to jobs, education opportunities, and leisure. This is particularly important for the one in three households in the North East without access to a car and for young people, who rely on public transport for independent travel.”
There have long been hopes of restoring the entirety of the Leamside Line, which runs down to Tursdale in County Durham and could be used to create a new Tyne-Tees train service.
There have also been pleas to reopen the Derwent Valley Line connecting Newcastle to Consett, as well as new Metro or rail stations to potentially serve areas including the West End of Newcastle, the Gateshead Quayside, and Silverlink.
Dr Ford added: “We hope that this funding is the start of a sustainable transport revolution in the North East. New Metro services to Washington are vital but so is investment to ensure the accessibility of our network to all, improving safety and access at stations and on trains. We also urge NECA to think about the wider connectivity of the network, enabling safe and accessible walking and cycling to new stations and joining them by healthy and low-carbon options to places where people live, work, study and play.”
The cost of the Metro extension to Washington is currently estimated at £900 million, though a feasibility study and design work is currently being undertaken, with the North East Combined Authority (NECA) expected to seek some private sector funding to help pay for the works.
An indicative map of the new loop includes stations to serve Follingsby, Washington North and Washington South.
