Done. And while we are at it the Leamside line
'A report for the Tyne & Wear PTA by Faber Maunsell says restoration of the Leamside route is feasible at a cost of £50-65 million...The study concluded the most appropriate use the the route would be linking Middlesbrough and Newcastle in less than 1 hour, bringing rail services to modern day Washington for the first time. Freight trains could also operate, either diverted from the ECML, or serving the Nissan Car factory or Port of Tyne. Various options have a benefit to cost ratio of up to around 1.4 to 1. Possible stations in the Tyne & Wear area at at Gateshead East (Park Lane), Washington North, Washington South, Openshaw (Coxgreen road) and Fencehouses.'
And the re-opening of Horden station to serve Peterlee on the Durham coast line?
This is the sort of thing Labour party politicians should be concentrating on as many of these areas are/have been ministerial constituencies. It speaks volumes that towns like Peterlee (pop 31,000) and Washington (pop 60,000) are left as some of the poorest areas in the UK, and have no rail connections and yet these are Labour heartlands. One missile launched against Iraq would have paid for a station for Peterlee. I find it incredible people in the area keep voting them in.
