(17 Nov 2022, 8:51 pm)54APhotography wrote I agree with you Green Lane comment, but the entire idea of a line from Tyne Dock to East Boldon is pointless. Nobody goes from Green Lane or Biddick Hall to East Boldon, there's nothing there.. Stagecoach and Go serve the areas that yield custom between Shields and Sunderland. The route south of Washington won't go to Penshaw, it turns left after the viaduct, the loop is the only option and one that should have been done when the money was available from the development fund. Penshaw would gain a station on the heavy rail route from Pelaw to Durham via Brasside or Stockton via Ferryhill.
I tend to agree too. Especially when you look at the financial risk of DS6 (which includes the Tyne Dock to East Boldon link) vs DS8, which would still deliver the Wearside loop. Given that it's still linked by a relatively quick bus journey time on the 24.
I think if they got the Wearside loop signed off and started, then it'd give even more potential to reopening the Leamside in full. I assume the biggest cost to reopening is the structural work required on the Victoria Viaduct, and where the banking has collapsed through the Barmston area.
For me, the most problematic part of this, is the location for the Washington South station. Now I understand they're restricted by where the track bed runs, but from the diagrams, they've gone for the old station site on Swan Road/next to Barmston Court. This wouldn't give the station any kind of parking, it's not very accessible by foot, which means you're left on the whim of a bus operator to get you there. At least the North one will be in between two developments.