Business case for Metro ‘loop’ will be developed
South Tyneside-Wearside link could be part of Leamside route renaissance.
A STRATEGIC Outline Business Case (SOBC) will be developed for plans to create a ‘South of Tyne and Wearside Loop’ for the Tyne & Wear Metro after approval was given by councillors on the North East Joint Transport Committee (NEJTC).
With an estimated high-level cost of around £700 million, the double-track expansion would utilise the northern end of the disused Leamside line to extend the Metro from Pelaw through Follingsby and Washington, crossing the River Wear on the Victoria Viaduct before joining the former railway alignment to the east to connect end-on with the current system at South Hylton.
To complete the ‘Loop’, the Metro’s South Shields line would be linked (using part of the Tyne Dock branch) with the existing Sunderland route at Boldon Junction and directly (via a flyover or gradeseparated junction) to the Leamside route at Pelaw.
The North East Local Enterprise Partnership and the NEJTC have provided funding totalling £100,000 to formulate the SOBC, which is expected to take around four months to complete.
Due to the cost and scale of the project, a report to councillors has already suggested that it may be more practical to deliver the project in phases.
After last November’s Integrated Rail Plan suggested the Leamside line ‘would be best considered as part of any future city region settlement’, work on its full reopening to ease pressure on the East Coast Main Line (as well as improving freight and passenger service connectivity for heavy rail) is also expected to be completed incrementally.
■ A ceremony in January marked the beginning of site work for the £103 million
‘Metro Flow’ project, which will see track dualling on the existing Tyne & Wear Metro route between Pelaw and
South Shields, allowing an improvement in capacity and frequency as well as scope for potential expansion of the system. It also includes the purchase of four additional new trains, taking the total to 46.