And...a more cut down commuter rail

As I mentioned many metro station should be skipped on the prior idea. Here is a more cut down and 'proper' version.
This still isn't the most conservative version (knock out Spennymoor and a few of the extra commuter stops in smaller places for that, e.g. Blackhall) but there we go.

I wonder what the final outcome will be when Blyth and Ashington finally do get their train stations.
It seems likely that Leamside will be reopened in Washington giving it a mainline train station too (unfortunately) so perhaps a single route which avoids Chester-Le-Street and the ECML and instead runs through Washington then onwards to either Sunderland or Durham and finally Boro?

Commuter Rail

As I've mentioned in prior posts there is a lot of talk these days about giving Blyth and Ashington rail links to Newcastle. Many (primarily from Blyth and Ashington) would like this to be a metro link however the distance involved is just too great for this to be viable. On the other hand, the distance is too short and the route too well used for just a regular train service.

So, here we have it, North East Commuter Rail.
Not actually a metro system however branded like one and with services more regular than a standard train (though nowhere near metro frequencies).

The map as presented here is very much one of 'maximum extent'. Not even ideal world but a map of where the lines should go.
Ideal worldly I would not service so many metro stations, they get good enough service already from the metro afterall and its unlikely many people travelling from Ashington will want to go to Newcastle residential areas. Only one or two of these outer stations should be serviced with the priority instead being to get to the city centre as fast as possible.

In addition to the Ashington-Newcastle link it also seemed to make sense to me to have better service linking Chester-Le-Street to Newcastle...and if you're going that far why not Durham? And from there it balooned into a north east wide network, linking up the Tees Valley metro and the Tyne-Wear metro.

Generally this map follows existing lines- sorry Blyth, but your town is just too far away from them and I had to serve the rim- however one small exception was made south of Durham for the large and unfairly isolated town of Spennymoor.

As I've said this is largely ideal worldly however the government does seriously want to build stations in Blyth and Ashington (and Washington but...that conflicts with my prior ideas and I've already established I don't like it!) and this seems the best way to do so.

A semi-metro...the bastard child of metro and rail.

South Sunderland

One proposal which has been suggested to extend the metro in the future is to Seaham south of Sunderland.
Now to me this doesn't seem to be the best of extensions; sure the track is already there but Seaham is rather out of the way and rather small being only 20,000 people and 10km south of Sunderland. After Seaham you would then have a similar distance to follow to the 30,000 population Peterlee and after that you've 20km or so until Hartlepool- a large town which is more associated with Teeside than Tyne and Wear.
This is really far far more territory for trains than the metro.

However. The route to Seaham would involve some rather good extensions long before it gets to its destination, it is only the final leg which is a bit pointless. To get to Seaham on the Durham Coast Line you must first pass through quite a large amount of southern Sunderland. Now this area needs connecting to the network!
Sunderland is a rather south heavy city and an extension of the metro service here would really increase use and drastically improve transportation in Sunderland.

I would suggest at the very least that the metro be extended down to Ryhope, this can be done using already existing lines.

Further than this however I would then suggest in a ideal situation the construction of some new metro track. Rather than heading south and out of the city to Seaham the line should instead head west, into the outer suburbs of Sunderland.

In an ideal world this would involve a lot of tunneling, hooking well north into densely built up areas before heading through Pennywell and then linking back up with South Hylton to give a nice 'Sunderland ring'. This though will never happen. Cost unfortunately is an object.

Instead I propose the following as shown on the image. This proposal would involve little or no tunneling yet still give metro service to the outer suburbs of Sunderland; an important note to add being that one area in which a metro really shows its advantages over busses is with long distances.

Mowbray Road-

The first of the new southern metro stations I would place as the railway track crosses the named road. Already we are getting towards a built up area.

Percy Road-

This one is really in the midst of a lot of housing.
My idea of where to place this would be at the end of Matanzas Street and Fuller Road with good access from both sides of the track however anywhere in that area could be a good potential location.

Grangetown-

A somewhat less built up area but nonetheless there is a lot of housing and it seems some shops (I am unsure what those white buildings by the line are, I've never been to the area in question).
Near to Ocean Road would be a wise place to put the station it seems.

Leechmere-

This station would be the last of those on the existing track before we loop westwards. This station is quite a distance from the houses unfortunately but it has good beach access!

Ryhope-

Rather than the south the north end of Ryhope is my chosen recipient of the next station, there being a plentiful gap of open ground between it and Leechmere.

Tunstall-

Yet again we go through a gap, this time a southbound one between Ryhope and Silksworth. The south east of Tunstall seems a wise spot for the next station before we head west again.

Mill Hill-

The one difficult part of this track lies here with a big patch of allotments lying between Silksworth and Doxford. Unfortunatly some of those would have to go with the location of the station somewhere towards their south east.

Silksworth Lane-

As good a place as any to stop next seems to be as we hook northwards on Silksworth Lane.

Giley Law-

After a lot of fields we then come to Giley Law. We need not head into it too much with a station on the north west of the fields.

Farringdon-

South south west of Giley Law is the next stop at Farringdon by Silksworth Road.

East Herrington-

The final stop of this extension I would place near the Doxford Buisness Park. Here we have a bit of a tight squeeze near the roads but still it seems there is space without demolishing any buildings.


And there we have it.
What should be done in southern Sunderland (or at least something roughly like it) rather than a Seaham extension.
This extension also sets us up well for serving the 10km south west Houghton-Le-Spring (35,000 people) and the surrounding area. Though this would be far more via park and ride or bus and metro combination than a actual extension; though again in an ideal world....