(01 Sep 2026, 7:21 pm)Adrian wrote You did comment though! You said "Complete waste of this money in it's current form and I don't care what anyone says" 

Regarding Houghton, I'm not sure that they've ever been the target audience for this, and including them would presumably weaken any business case for phase 2, where Rainton/Fencehouses houses would be one of the sites for a station. As would Penshaw.

Aye it's more about the real demand between Washington and Sunderland for me, which couldn't be done by improved buses (or alternative) instead. Like is there enough demand from the stations to the city since there's no parking?

I can't see anyone realistically getting a bus which goes to Sunderland (the 8/56) and changing to a Metro to go to well Sunderland. Might aswell just stay on the 8/56 really and there's no demand coming outside of Washington as anyone sane is going the direct route via East Boldon. 

The amount of work needed, it could be a huge investment in the alternative and it'd be interesting what a study would say for a comparison. The 56 corridor, in particular, is screaming for something with a decent interchange at Washington North which appears to be missing right now.