New Washington Metro line feasibility study under way
The Local Democracy Reporting Service said full details of where Metro trains would stop in the area, the economic benefits of the eight mile (13km) rail extension and the true cost of the project are expected to be revealed during the development of the outline business case.
The Washington Metro Loop represents the first section of a wider ambition to reopen the entire Leamside Line, which runs down through County Durham and could allow for the launch of new Tyne-Tees train services.It was estimated in 2022 that the scheme would cost £745m, but this has since been listed as costing £900m in the mayor's new regional transport plan, which sets a target of delivering the project by 2032.While the restoration has been a top priority for leaders for years, some critics have raised concerns it could be a "vanity project" which it may not be feasible to deliver.
However, McGuinness has long stated her determination to deliver on the promise of bringing the Metro to Washington, describing it as a "major part" of her ambition to re-open the Leamside route through County Durham and Sunderland."I am determined to transform our transport network to change the lives of local people for generations to come," she said."This project will be the biggest expansion of the Metro for more than 20 years – and it will be just as transformative as the Sunderland line was when it first opened back in 2002."
Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
6 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK's Starmer to convene cabinet meeting, most likely to discuss Gaza
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will convene a cabinet meeting next week, a government source said on Sunday, most likely to discuss the situation in Gaza after coming under growing pressure to recognise a Palestinian state. The Financial Times, which initially reported the story, said ministers, currently in a summer recess until September 1, would reconvene to discuss Gaza. Starmer's office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment. The recall comes after Starmer said on Friday the British government would recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action. President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would recognise a Palestinian state, a plan that drew strong condemnation from Israel and the United States, after similar moves from Spain, Norway and Ireland last year. More than 220 members of parliament in the UK, mostly Labour members representing about a third of the House of Commons, wrote to Starmer on Friday urging him to recognise a Palestinian state. Successive British governments have said they will formally recognise a Palestinian state when the time is right, without setting a timetable or specifying the necessary conditions. Starmer's approach has been complicated by the arrival in Scotland on Friday of U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom he has built warm relations. In foreign policy terms, Britain has rarely diverged from the United States. Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Remembering victims of historical injustice
Campaigners are right to say that the miners' strike, which saw the violent repression of strikers at Orgreave in 1984, remains an enduring source of injustice (Government launches Orgreave inquiry, 40 years after clashes at miners' strike, 20 July). And Pete Wilcox, the bishop of Sheffield, who is to chair the Orgreave inquiry, is right to recognise that the acknowledgment of truth is essential for long-term community healing. Sadly, Orgreave is not the only example of where truth and justice have been forsaken when excessive violence has been used against people on strike. Two hundred years ago, on 3 August 1825, six people were seriously wounded and seven killed by soldiers at North Sands, Sunderland, during the 1825 seamen's strike. The killings were met with anger and outrage, with many local people believing that those who died had been wilfully murdered. Soldiers had fired like target practice into a crowd of 100 from a boat on the River Wear. The threat posed by the crowd, made up of a combination of women, children, strikers, workers and bystanders, was greatly exaggerated. The only inquiries were two short inquests into just two of the seven deaths. At the time, the killings were reported in national newspapers and were undoubtedly one of the most significant events of 1825. What happened at Sunderland is not so different from that six years earlier at Peterloo, on 16 August 1819, yet knowledge and awareness of these two massacres are vastly different. The Sunderland seafarers' union, the Seamen's Loyal Standard Association, stated that 3 August 1825 should 'ever be remembered', but over time, the North Sands Massacre has been virtually forgotten. The denial of truth and justice at Orgreave is unfortunately just one of several incidents where those policing industrial action have used unnecessary violence and then placed the blame on their victims. All victims of historical injustice should be remembered and their communities allowed to David Gordon ScottThe Open University Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
UK's Starmer to recall cabinet from summer break to discuss Gaza, FT reports
LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, amid growing pressure on the Labour government to recognise a Palestinian state. Starmer's office did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment on the report. The paper said the move to recall his cabinet of ministers next week was set out on Sunday by Downing Street. The UK parliament and cabinet are currently in a summer recess until September 1. The recall comes after Starmer said on Friday the British government would recognise a Palestinian state only as part of a negotiated peace deal, disappointing many in his Labour Party who want him to follow France in taking swifter action. President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday France would recognise a Palestinian state, a plan that drew strong condemnation from Israel and the United States, after similar moves from Spain, Norway and Ireland last year. More than 220 members of parliament in the UK, representing about a third of the House of Commons and mostly Labour members, wrote to Starmer on Friday urging him to recognise a Palestinian state. Successive British governments have said they will formally recognise a Palestinian state when the time is right, without ever setting a timetable or specifying the necessary conditions. Starmer's approach to the issue has been complicated by the arrival in Scotland on Friday of U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom he has built warm relations. In foreign policy terms, Britain has rarely diverged from the United States. Israel has been facing growing international criticism, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government rejects, over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where images of starving Palestinians have alarmed the world.
