Let's reopen the Leamside Line and bring better transport to the North East!

What is the Leamside Line?
The Leamside Line is a disused 21-mile rail alignment, which comes off the East Coast Main Line. It runs between Ferryhill, just north of Darlington, and Pelaw, where it re-joins the ECML. Reopening the Leamside Line has been a long-term aspiration of the North East and has featured as a significant element of previous local and upcoming regional transport plans. This is why Local Authorities have prevented the disused line from being developed upon.

Reopening the Leamside Line, to come off the overwhelmed ECML, would provide an alternative route for freight services, a diversionary route for long distance services, and would provide much improved local connectivity.

We need to level up. 
The North East is very poorly serviced by rail – there is currently only one-track running north, and one south. This is the East Coast Mainline. Here, high speed intercity and national trains compete with local services and slow freight trains. Network Rail analysis shows that the line is at full capacity and from December 2021 there are simply too many committed trains for the infrastructure. A supplementary line is critical for future services, including HS2 Phase 2. Currently this would not be feasible. Extra lines like the Leamside Line are necessary if HS2 is to reach the North East. 

Unless this is tackled head on, the region runs the risk of falling further behind other areas of the country as economic inequalities continue to grow. The degree of physical separation that already exists between the North East and the rest of the UK will be exaggerated, especially as ease and speed of travel is improving in other areas of the country. Lines such as the Leamside Line need to be a priority to support the Government’s agenda of levelling up, even to equal up.

Local agenda
Of equal importance to the national connectivity is the local connectivity. County Durham in particular has some of the lowest car ownership in the country. Many people are solely reliant on public transport, and currently it does not serve them sufficiently. For example, travelling by train between Newcastle and Middlesbrough currently takes 78 minutes, to travel but 39 miles. This is in fact only ten minutes quicker than a bus would take, at 1 hour 25 minutes. Reintroduction of the Leamside Line, in conjunction with the Stillington Spur, would significantly reduce journey times across the North East region, and importantly, reduce the journey time between Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley.

A lack of appropriate transport is the area is causing its own problems. Slow transport limits the distance people can commute to work, which in turn limits their job opportunities. Reinstatement of the Leamside Line could have the potential to open up access to rail services for up to a million in County Durham and Tyne and Wear, connecting them to jobs and commerce.

The Leamside corridor itself runs very close to several employment centres: the North East Technology Park, the Rainton Bridge Business Park, the Doxford International Business park to name a few. Reintroducing the Leamside Line would transport people directly to employment.

Please sign this petition if you agree that the North East needs regeneration and better transport. A large number of signatories will indicate strong local support which will really support the Leamside Line bid.