Shields-Sunderland

One commonly mooted easy extension is a direct link between South Shields and Sunderland.
Though in an ideal world this would be done via tunneling right through eastern South Shields and past Marsden and Whitburn this would of course in practice be way over the top for the population in that area.
The most commonly suggested route, which has been reported in the local press, is what is shown on the map. Reconstructing a dismantled railway alignment just as the track loops to Simonside (coming from Shields), this would then take you to the southern metro track just after Brockley Whins.

My view on this is rather meh. Its not a very useful or exciting route. You could maybe have one extra station on the extension to give more service to south South Shields however overall it mostly just makes using the metro for Sunderland-South Shields quicker and doesn't actually extend the service.

This extension though does seem to be one of the most likely to occur with it being actively discussed in the press. Apparently the Metro operators are wanting stabling facilities in the Shields area and this seems to be a good place for them. Hopefully there'll be a station in it too unlike the Gosforth stables.