I wasn't surprised Eastern dropped BHX the hole UK domestic market has changed massively over the last 10-15 years with APD and rail deregulation. Plus business is either very techno savvy or not willing to pay the large fares Eastern made the route work with!
What I do object to comments wise is NCL being difficult to get to from south of the river, I commuted for 18 years Sunderland-NCL and only ever found problems during road works and then only during peak times! What I do think is a problem is the reliability of the Metro! I used to use this all the time for mid day flights from NCL then after the nearly missing three flights by train break downs and only making it because I jumped in a taxi, I gave up! I only use metro these days for non time critical journeys!!