(26 Nov 2020, 3:02 pm)Storx wrote It's just the problem is that there's no where to build it. The land remains to Annfield Plain or so and probably wouldn't be 'that' expensive but it won't be cheap. After there there's nothing your building a brand new line almost as the A693 / A692 was built on the new railway line and it's going to become very very expensive for quite little gain really. In the Tyne Wear area the expansions that I think we could see (if any) would be:

• Leamside Line reopening
  
• Metro from Leamside Line to Sunderland creating a loop.
  
• Some form of railway / tram connecting Cobalt running on the Stephenson Railway.
  
• New Railway along Scotswood Road crossing the Tyne near Blaydon
  
• Extension of the Metro to Ponteland from the Airport
  
• Branch line from the ECML into Alnwick
  
• ECML improvements (Quad track) including new stations at Birtley, Team Valley, Heaton, Killingworth and Cramlington station moved South linked to the Alnwick Spur.
  
• Metro Extension to Ryhope / Doxford Park (new housing possible)
  

Quite a long list there but they've all been tipped off over and all will have better cost benefit ratios that the train to Consett sadly. That's in order of likelyhood aswell imo.

If there had been any joined up thinking then an extension to the Metro for CLS, Durham, SE Northumberland and Washington would have been far better than these line reopening schemes that keep popping up. 

I forgot to mention it the other week when discussing the Ashington and Blyth line, but I frequently (pre-Covid, anyway) get the 08:56 LNER from Morpeth to Aberdeen. A Northern service leaves a couple of minutes beforehand headed into Newcastle, I don't think I've ever seen more than 2 or 3 people get on it. Fair enough it may be a bit past peak time, but the buses heading from Morpeth to Newcastle at a similar time are generally carrying healthy loads. A return on the train is £6, a Morpeth day routesaver is £6.20. Annually? £1148 on the train, £921 on the bus. I just don't see the likes of Consett, Ashington, Bedlington as places which will be keen on using the train over the convenience of a car, or the flexibility and value of a bus - a Metro system would be a different story.