Sunderland is really neglected considering its size. The Tyne & Wear metro isn't enough considering the distance it has to cover and stops it has to make. If billions were available for each region to spend on what it wants, up here I'd be in favour of an entirely new line from Newcastle-Sunderland-Hartlepool-Middlesbrough-Stockton-Durham-Chester Le Street-Gateshead-Newcastle-Cramlington-Blyth-Ashington-Alnwick-Berwick. Something like that at least. No great speeds, 100mph would be fine, electrified, loading gauge big enough for double decker trains running at frequencies of about every 10 minutes. Something like that with that quality, reliability that you get from new infrastructure, high frequencies and capacity would make getting around the region easy. Connect it with lines that other regions build for inter-regional services.