An £8.7 billion wishlist to give the North East a “world class” transport system has won the approval of the region’s leaders, despite questions over whether it can be turned into a reality.
The North East Combined Authority (NECA) hopes to radically upgrade travel infrastructure across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and County Durham by 2040.
Transport chiefs’ huge proposals include opening new Metro stations and railway lines, bringing bus services under public control, delivering major road upgrades like the dualling of the A1 in Northumberland, and significant improvements to walking and cycling networks.
NECA’s cabinet agreed on Tuesday to the launch of a public consultation on the plans this autumn, before a final version of the new Local Transport Plan is published early next year.
North East mayor Kim McGuinness told a meeting at North Tyneside Council’s headquarters that achieving the vision, which also includes expanded electric vehicle facilities and improved safety measures on public transport, would give the region a “world class transport network” and that the plans were “unapologetically” ambitious.
Concerns have already been aired about whether the mayor can deliver on expensive projects like the reopening of the mothballed Leamside railway line.
The vast scale of the £8.66 billion proposals means that the biggest of the 327 different schemes listed would be beyond the financial capabilities of NECA, despite the new mayor’s transport funding and powers, and would need significant backing from either the Government or the private sector.
Ms McGuinness added: “It is an ambitious plan and that is what we are, we are very ambitious for the region. Critics of this plan might say that it will be difficult to deliver. But we have to get out there and state our intention to have this world class transport network that the people of our region deserve.”
Kevin Dickinson, of the Sort Out the Metro campaign group, is among those to have questioned regional leaders’ ability to deliver on the proposals’ huge promise.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I worry that councillors and the mayor are out of touch with the daily issues faced by travellers, but welcome the consultation and hope it will be thorough and passengers are listened to.
“The mayor said that delivery of the strategy would be difficult and I’m glad that is recognised. I hope performance measures are put in place for projects to ensure they deliver the benefits in the strategy.”
Also included within the transport plan is the building of a new ferry landing at the North Shields Fish Quay, the Blyth relief road, and giving free travel on public transport to under-18s.
The sprawling document sets out costs estimates for the schemes as well as delivery timescales – split into those that will be ready by 2027, by 2032, and by 2040.
Gateshead Council leader and deputy North East mayor Martin Gannon said he wanted the region to have the “greenest transport system in the country”, but admitted that there are “a number of long-term projects where we will need to secure a funding strategy to deliver those really ambitious plans”.
