Don't see how getting on a train for 1.5 hours to CF serves Newcastle any better than getting on a train for 3 hours to MAN - in that time you could be in AMS, CDG or DUB and then onwards to a range of destinations it would take CF decades to replicate.
Adding the North East to the motorway network to the South, dualling the A69 and A66 to the West and the A1 to the North, upgrading the rail network to the west, upgrading and expanding the Metro, improving access to the ports on the Tees, Wear and Tyne are all better uses of public money.