Oldart
The train goes from Saltburn to Darlington calling at Middlesbrough and Thornaby (where I usually catch it) and then to darlo, and across the pennines to Manchester airport. Apart from the very rare train which stops at MME which is once a week as I understand it, the hourly trains to Manchester just roll through the MME station without stopping.
UKlad, It is cheaper to go to Manchester in many cases than to use MME despite the distance.
As you say, the bare essentials are checking in , security and boarding. With MME thats all you get. I too have been to all sorts of airports all around the world, and MME is about as basic as things get. I dont want a foot massage in the first class lounge but any airport which has vending machines as the staple supplier of essentials is pretty dire.
I have posted about the security in MME and wont rag on about it, but its certainly not complimentary. I will repeat two points. The arrivals lounge security is woeful as the last time I picked someone up from there there was an aggressive drunk who no one did anything about. I repeatedly requested a security presence as that I felt intimidated by the drunk but nothing happened. The other thing is that the immigration control staff take their duties so seriously that to reduce a passenger to tears seems to be an achievement.