Reopening line gets economy on track

The better your transport links, the greater your prospects of business success. That’s the thinking fueling a renewed bid to breathe new life into the mothballed Leamside Line.

Across the region, there are developments which hope to transform the economy of our community. But it means very little if our transport infrastructure doesn’t match our ambitions. We’ve already seen great strides forward on our road links. The Northern Spire bridge and upgrading work on the A19 to name but two. Now transport campaigners are looking to see our rail network given the same treatment.

They believe restoring the Leamside Line – potentially linking Sunderland, Washington and Durham by rail and extending the Metro network – “could trigger a wave of economic benefits across the North East” and ease pressure on the nearby London-Scotland East Coast Main Line.

They cite problems with the East Coast Main Line and how reopening the Leamside Line could alleviate those and turbo charge our businesses.

Councillor Martin Gannon tell us today: "We know the solution: Reopen the Leamside Line to freight trains, freeing up the East Coast Main Line for express passenger trains. A reopened Leamside Line could trigger a wave of economic benefits across the North East, not just from an improved East Coast Main Line but also by enabling the introduction of local passenger services and extending the Metro.”

The positives on paper seem to outweigh the negatives and with a £500m transport pot to dip into, why not?