The North East Mayor has confirmed plans to reopen the Leamside Line and extend the Metro to Washington will push ahead despite the Government scrapping a major railway fund.
However, the chancellor's decision to axe the Restoring Your Railway fund will mean the North East Combined Authority (NECA) will have to find extra cash to reopen the station at Ferryhill. In July 2022, Ferryhill was selected as one of nine projects to share in a £15 million funding pot from the fund.
Rachel Reeves announced the cut in a speech on Monday, claiming a £22 billion hole had been uncovered in the country's finances meant spending reductions were needed. The chancellor also said other unfunded transport projects would be reviewed - but speaking at Tuesday's meeting of the NECA cabinet, Mayor Kim McGuinness was confident the move wouldn't affect the combined authority's plans.
She said: "I note the statement by the chancellor. I'm very confident that few of our plans, if any, are impacted by that statement.
"We will still push on with extending the Metro to Washington and reopening the Leamside Line. The Ferryhill station was part of the Restoring our Railways fund, and it will likely fall victim.
"But, we will reopen that station when we reopen the Leamside Line. The plans that we have are still very much there."
At the meeting, members agreed to fund an £8 million to develop an Outline Business Case for the Washington Metro Loop, which will be produced by operator Nexus. A further £600,000 was agreed to commission a strategic outline business case for the southern section of the Leamside Line.
The report identifies securing funding for both projects as "early priorities". However, the cost of the Washington Loop was branded "extremely high" by Tory councillors in Sunderland earlier this month.
Restoring the Leamside Line, which runs from Pelaw in Gateshead to Tursdale in County Durham and closed in the 1960s, has been an ambition among North East leaders for years. It would allow for an extension of the Tyne and Wear Metro to Washington and free up capacity to run more services on the East Coast Main Line, as well as providing links to and between emerging jobs sites in Gateshead and Sunderland.
But the project would cost upwards of £1bn, meaning it would need national Government funding to become a reality.
The plans to expand the current Metro network would see trains carry on from the current terminus at South Hylton, cross the Victoria Viaduct, and then run through Washington and Follingsby before connecting back to the Metro line at Pelaw. That would utilise the northern section of the former Leamside railway line.
The combined authority's cabinet member for transport, Gateshead's Coun Martin Gannon, added: "We're pressing ahead with the Leamside Line and the Washington Loop.
"For decades, perhaps generations, we have recognised that the North East has not been treated fairly in transport infrastructure investment. The creation of the Combined Authority put us in a stronger place to start addressing those issues."
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community for all the latest news direct to your phone.
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.
