The project was backed by all the local authorities through which the system would have run: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.

[6] Enhanced heavy rail connections along the Durham Coast line, including Grand Central.

[6] Further details about the project also involved possible further extensions to Guisborough, Bishop Auckland, Wynyard, Ingleby Barwick, East Cleveland, and The Headland at Hartlepool once the first two phases ended.

[6] In November 2005, Darlington MP and former Health Secretary Alan Milburn first started partitioning that the Tyne and Wear Metro network to be extended into County Durham and Teesside.

[18] In 2006, this evolved to being a business case being submitted to the Department for Transport by all of the involved local authorities, as well as Tees Valley Regeneration, with a reply from the DfT being given by the end of 2007.

[19] In March 2007 the Tees Valley Metro was mentioned within a parliamentary debate, where the Secretary of State for Transport at the time (Tom Harris) stated the Department for Transport had "no plans to fund the development of a Tees Valley Metro system and has received no request to do so".

[20] The project had originally received approval from the Interim Regional Transport Board in September 2008, allowing more detailed plans and a public consultation to go ahead.

He also stated that the DfT was "committed to working with the Tees Valley Metro promoters to help them to develop their business case".

[23] Funding was expected for the two new platforms at Darlington, the reopening of platform 3 at Middlesbrough, the relocation of Teesside Airport station to within 350m of the terminal building, improvements at Eaglescliffe, Thornaby and Hartlepool, including new lifts and footbridges, and the new station at James Cook University Hospital.

It was not listed in the 2012 £1.5bn Government transport package, and in 2011 the £9.05m light rail network bid was questioned over value/cost estimates.

[25] In 2020, at the time Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer, urged Rishi Sunak's government to "sort this issue and give the Tees Valley the infrastructure it needs" and saying that "the Tees Valley Metro would have provided a faster and more frequent service across the area".

The Government, whilst not ensuring, requested that the new franchise holder from 2016 onwards must attempt to refurbish or replace 35 year old Pacer trains in use at the time.

[citation needed] Pacer trains began to be removed in 2019 from the network and were replaced with refurbished class 156 Sprinters from elsewhere.

[11] As of 2 June 2024, platform 3 at Hartlepool has been brought back into use with Northern introducing 3 trains every two hours at peak times on the Durham Coastline.

[27] In August 2024, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen unveiled proposals of ''15 trackless autonomous electric trams in five town centres" in a £20 million plan.

[citation needed] Northern currently have put out to tender for the provision of new rolling stock to replace all class 15x units by 2028.