re new routes
Well clearly Thomson did think that some routes worked, but the airport disagreed. Catch 22 - end of discussion.
Oh, and when the LHR route was at its prime, the train from Darlo took about 4 hours, and there was about six per day if you were lucky. It's now just over 2 hours and runs every half hour most of the day. Teesside itself now gets direct services to Kings Cross with Grand Central in less than 3 hours, 4 times per day, picking up in Hartlepool, Stockton and Northallerton. BTW, parking at Northallerton is dead cheap and next to the platform.