The Tees Valley Metro is a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service. In the initial phases the services will be heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase may introduce tram-trains to allow street running. The project is backed by all the local authorities through which the system would run, with the authorities being Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland and Stockton-On-Tees. Support has also been forthcoming from the Department for Transport.