(14 Nov 2013, 12:39 pm)andreos1 wrote Apart from the few miles of track that was stolen from Penshaw, the signalling/cabling would have needed replacing too.

I live in hope that it will be re-opened, but like QCS, I think it is doomed to failure because the powers that be, don't live in the real world.

There was also the problem of landslips and vegetation made parts of it look like a forest, I walked the line from Sulgrave to Penshaw a few years ago with my dog and it was in a very sorry state indeed...

I can certainly see the need for it, even if it is only for freight and the ocassional diversion for the ECML and Durham Coast Services, it would free up paths between Newcastle and Northallerton and Newcastle and Hartlepool by using the Leamside and the Stillington Branch