A TRANSPORT revolution worth £6 billion could reverse decades of “chronic” underinvestment and catapult the North-East towards a greener and more prosperous future.

Civic leaders have compiled a wish list of almost 300 upgrade schemes that they believe will transform the area by 2035, including a series of major road improvements, dramatic cycling infrastructure advances and multiple extensions to the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The Government is being urged to stump up funding for the “ambitious but deliverable” project, which local politicians say would simply mean the region is finally getting its “fair share”.

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon hailed draft plans, which would cost an initial £6.1 billion, as the “first time the whole of the region has come together” to produce a comprehensive vision for the future.

Coun Gannon, who chairs the North East Joint Transport Committee (JTC), added: “Despite Covid and the massive economic impact that will be long felt, it is clear that the government needs to invest to encourage and support recovery and regeneration across the whole of the UK.

“We have put forward a really clear, strategic, thought-out vision for the North East that would massively boost the economy and I think the government would listen to that.

“It is a long-term investment to get the economy moving again, so I think there is real reason to be optimistic.

“Historically the North East of England has not had a fair share of national resources.

“Even if there was just a levelling out of that, we would be getting resources way in excess of £6 billion.

“We are not being extravagant in asking for a programme of investment of £6 billion in our transport infrastructure… the chronic underinvestment needs to be addressed.”

Analysis by IPPR North suggests that in 2019, planned government spending on transport in London was £3,636 per person – seven times more than the £519 per head in the North East.

The colossal list of 296 schemes on the new wish list, many of which have long been in the works but have now been compiled in a new North East Transport

Plan, includes many ‘shovel-ready’ ideas that could begin imminently, such as:

  • The £40 million refurbishment of the Tyne Bridge and Central Motorway;
  • The introduction of a single-ticket system shared across the region’s different public transport options;
  • New ‘bus, cycles and electric vehicles only’ lanes across Wearside;
  • An expansion of electric vehicle charging points;
  • Improved cycling and walking routes in Newcastle city centre, Gateshead, and North Tyneside.

Projects earmarked for delivery in the next five years include:

  • Restarting passenger rail services on the Newcastle to Northumberland railway line, connecting the city centre to Ashington and Blyth;
  • Refurbishing the Airport Metro station, introducing a new Metro service from the Airport to the Coast, and improving park and ride facilities at Jarrow and East Boldon stations;
  • Opening the Blyth relief road;
  • A footbridge between the Stadium of Light and the old Vaux Brewery site in Sunderland.

Within ten years, it is hoped that there will also be progress on:

  • The dualling of the A1 north of Newcastle and the A66;
  • A19 junction improvements and capacity upgrades in North Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham;
  • East Coast Mainline capacity improved north of Newcastle to allow more frequent local stopping services;
  • Reopening the Leamside railway line between Pelaw junction and Tursdale;
  • New Metro stations at Mill Lane in Hebburn, Murton Gap and Killingworth Moor.
  • The Shields Ferry being replaced with new vessels;
  • New bus stations for Alnwick and Blyth, plus refurbished interchanges in Gateshead and Heworth.

And the wish list for beyond the next 10 years includes:

  • A Metro extension to the west of Newcastle and across to Team Valley and the Metrocentre;
  • A new Metro line through Cobalt and the Silverlink;
  • A new ‘Leamside and Wearside loop’ on the Metro;
  • New Metro stations at Ouseburn and Boldon;
  • A new road crossing over the Tyne at Blaydon;
  • Extension of mainline railway services to Newcastle Airport.

Coun Gannon called for ministers to “fast track” schemes such as East Coast Mainline to allow for more and faster trains and reopening the Leamside rail line to kickstart the region’s post-Covid recovery.

He added: “We have about 42 miles of motorway in the North East. Most of it is a two-lane motorway built in the 1960s, the A1 (M) from Scotch Corner to White Mare Pool.

“The Metro system is fantastic, it is absolutely brilliant, the pioneers who came up with that vision persuaded the government to make those investments and that is to be celebrated.

“But that was 40 years ago. The initial vision was never followed through, it was never expanded, and it needed to be.

“It needed to connect to Durham, Chester-le-Street, Washington, south east Northumberland, the Tyne Valley, because otherwise it becomes a clogged-up system and you end up with massive congestion on the roads. People travel in from those areas by car because they have no alternative.”

JTC members will discuss the draft plans on Tuesday, before an eight-week public consultation is launched.