Investment in public transport will help us on the right track
STEPHEN PATTERSON, chief executive of NE1 Ltd, the Business Improvement District company for Newcastle city centre, highlights the need for more investment in the region’s transport network and calls on businesses and the public to back the plan to reopen the disused Leamside Line railway route
OUR city is changing before our very eyes. Among the transformational developments that are happening across the city include the striking work going on across East Pilgrim Street, the investment in the Quayside with its new arena and conference centre, and plans for around 10,000 new homes on both the Gateshead and Newcastle banks of the river.
Ambitious transport plans are needed to match this investment.
Transport capacity has to expand to accommodate the extra workers and residents who will occupy these new buildings, homes and workspaces, as well as catering for the estimated 1 million additional visitors who are expected into the city each year by 2025. Perhaps more crucially, transport improvements are needed to provide critical connections to towns and cities across the region.
Transport and access links into, out of, and around any city are crucial for continued growth and success. Good transport links have direct benefits for the health and wellbeing of a city’s residents, businesses and visitors as well as for the environment and overall economy.
As Newcastle enjoys what is a ‘once-in-a-generation’ renaissance with multi-million pound investment across the city, our transport system can’t be left behind.
People need to be able to take advantage of all the opportunities that this growth will create by matching this investment with improvements in public transport. As the regional capital of the north east, Newcastle needs to plan strategically to ensure that the city’s growth benefits the whole region.
Transport for the North have got off to a great start with the North East Rail and Metro Strategy, including plans to reopen the Leamside Line, a disused 21-mile long passenger and freight railway line which runs from Gateshead to County Durham. If successful, the plans will see the line reinstated and connectivity improved across the region, starting with a Metro extension and a new Metro connection from Pelaw to South Hylton via Washington, which is being called the ‘Washington
Metro Loop’.
NE1 fully endorses this plan and has written to Government in support of Transport North East, backing their funding requests which will allow them to develop the plans further and compile a business case.
Reopening the Leamside Line is a pragmatic and practical plan that will deliver for the region and help people access economic and employment opportunities along its route.
The economic impact from expanding and improving this rail link is clear, quantifiable and deliverable; a £90m economic boost to the region and eight million additional passenger journeys each year.
And one of the major benefits is that it does not mean starting from scratch.
The Leamside Line, albeit mothballed, already exists and if reinstated would link the south of the region to Newcastle city centre.
The line wasn’t decommissioned
until the 1990s but started its decline in the 1960s when the whole of Great Britain’s local rail network was reshaped as part of a major transport review, known as the Beeching Report.
The line continued to be used to take the strain off the East Coast mainline until the 1990s but electrification accelerated its demise.
Reinstating the line would deliver a ‘step change in connectivity’ for residents in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland. Access to jobs, education, services and other opportunities would all improve if the line is brought back into use.
We all recognise that improvements need to be made to make travelling around the north east quicker and easier.
As early as next year, the north east should see the re-opening of the 18-mile long Northumberland line for passengers. This line will provide regular, and more convenient rail services between Ashington and Newcastle, halving the travel time between Ashington and Newcastle and with 6 new stations built along the route.
As Newcastle grows and continues to thrive, we need communities across the whole of the region to be able to connect with the jobs, education and opportunities that will be created in the city, and we can only do this by investing in and improving our regional transport connections.
The focus is not just on passenger transport, these lines will also carry freight, helping take the strain off the region’s busy arterial roads and removing unnecessary HGV journeys that would otherwise be made by road.
The plans for the Leamside and Northumberland Lines make a huge amount of sense, connecting the north and south of the region and all the communities along the way is both viable and achievable. These plans demonstrate that the region knows what is needed and is forging ahead, developing its own plans to create additional transport capacity, shaping our own destiny and agenda for growth and opportunity.