Tyne and Wear Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro
Although I would like to see both the rail and metro networks extended throughout Tyne and Wear and the North East in general, I think the plans unveiled by Nexus are overly ambitious and will probably not see light of day in its present form.
Of the proposed plans, only the South Shields to Sunderland and the Washington extension (either from Pelaw or South Hylton) are currently feasible. But even then, the Washington proposal is iffy as I seriously doubt it would ever go anywhere near to the Galleries. The mere suggestion of this is quite laughable. In agreement with others, I too think that Washington would be better served by heavy-rail with a parkway-type station around the Usworth/Barmston area which could increase connectivity with other areas of the North East (and the country) if the Leamside Line was ever reopened.
The Sunderland to South Shields link could be achieved through converting the freight line to Tyne Dock and by building a short chord between the freight and metro lines. It wouldn't be that hard to achieve as, up until the early 90s, a BR line ran parallel to the Metro line in order to serve Westoe Colliery - the remnants of which are still visible. However, the current plans seem to suggest the reopening of the Harton line - something which I don't think will ever happen.
As for the rest of the plans, I think that an extension into the West End of Newcastle and, perhaps, Doxford Park would have potential economic benefits in terms of rider-ship. But I believe that the geological strata beyond St James would make tunnelling very expensive and very difficult. An extension to Doxford Park would also be expensive, however, I have read that land has been reserved to make this a viable prospect in the future. The extension to Seaham is pointless it is already served by rail and the extension of the Metro would offer no real benefit in my view; and, as with Washington, Team Valley and Metrocentre would benefit more by extending the scope of the current rail-network.
Another point to consider is the current level of capacity of the Pelaw to Sunderland stretch of line. A Sunderland to South Shields extension would would obviously increase that capacity no matter which way it was routed and, unless the Doxford Park link ran to South Shields or terminated at Sunderland, that would also potentially increase capacity towards Newcastle.
Personally, I prefer the permanent way over roads as, in theory at least, it leads to less delays through traffic congestion resulting in quicker journey times. But I think Nexus really need to address problems currently facing the Metro network (in terms of reliability and rolling-stock) before embarking on any schemes towards expansion.
