North East mayor Kim McGuinness has put more than £8m towards creating a business case for the Washington extension via the northern section of the disused Leamside Line.
The plans could see the network expand from its current endpoint in South Hylton, through to Washington, then onto Follingsby and rejoin at Pelaw.Labour's North East mayor Kim McGuinness and deputy mayor Martin Gannon announced the funding on Wednesday "This is a lot of money that we're putting into the exploration, and, ultimately, what that means to lead to is Metros running on this track."
The Labour Party has also refused to commit to delivering the Leamside Line, the full restoration of which would cost well over £1bn.