Tyne and Wear Metro

The Tyne and Wear Metro is a light rail metro system in and around Newcastle upon Tyne, in the Tyne and Wear county of north-east England. It opened in 1980, and in 2002-3 served 40 million journeys. It is operated by Nexus, previously known as the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (TWPTE). Nexus also operate a passenger ferry service at the mouth of the River Tyne between North Shields and South Shields, and several bus services around the Tyne and Wear area.

Related Topics:
Metro - Newcastle upon Tyne - Tyne and Wear - England - 1980 - Ferry - River Tyne - North Shields - South Shields - Bus

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The Metro is usually described as Britain's first modern light-rail system. However, it can be considered a hybrid system, displaying elements of light rail, heavy underground metro, and longer-distance, higher speed suburban and interurban railway systems.

Related Topics:
Light-rail - Metro - Suburban - Interurban - Railway

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Although the Metro celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2005, it can be considered an evolutionary development. It was a pioneering system in the use of existing rights-of way to create a modern rail transit system, linking them with purpose-built tunnels under central Newcastle and Gateshead.

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Much of the Metro's route was part of one of the world's first electric urban railway systems, which entered service in 1904 on passenger lines that were then already well established (see Tyneside Electrics). The Metro alignment comprises most of two of the world's oldest passenger railways, the Newcastle & North Shields Railway (Metro between Chillingham Road and North Shields) and the Brandling Junction Railway (between Gateshead and Brockley Whins), both opened in 1839, making the Metro arguably the world's oldest local rail transport system.

Related Topics:
1904 - Tyneside Electrics - Newcastle & North Shields Railway - Brandling Junction Railway - 1839 - Rail transport

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In the case of Metro's Chichester station, the route of an existing mineral railway was chosen instead of the previous passenger railway alignment, as it passed through a more heavily populated area than the previous High Shields station.

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With the opening of the Sunderland extension in 2002, the Metro became the first UK system to implement the Karlsruhe model, using track shared with mainline trains on the section between Pelaw and Sunderland. The section from Sunderland to South Hylton was previously part of the Sunderland to Durham mainline, closed in the wake of the Beeching Axe in the 1960s, and was the first Metro segment to be build on a completely disused line.

Related Topics:
Sunderland - 2002 - UK - Karlsruhe model - Pelaw - Durham - Beeching Axe - 1960s

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When the Metro first opened, it was claimed to be part of the UK's first integrated public transport system. The Metro was intended to cover trunk journeys, while buses were reoriented toward shorter local trips, tightly integrated with the Metro schedule, to bring passengers to and from the Metro stations, using unified ticketing. Much was made of the Metro's interchange stations such as Four Lane Ends and Regent Centre, which combined a large parking facility with a bus hub and Metro station; this distinction is no longer emphasized. Some passengers complained that the Metro integration was pursued overzealously, and for example, bus passengers to Newcastle would be forced to change to the Metro in Gateshead for a short trip, rather than have the bus route continue for a short distance further into Newcastle. Integration lasted until deregulation of bus routes in 1986.

Related Topics:
Deregulation - 1986

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The Metrocars owed much to similar German Stadtbahn vehicles, although they were built by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham (now part of Alstom). Prior to opening, the Metro's two prototypes (numbered 4001 and 4002; they are still in service) underwent several years of testing at the Metro's own test track on North Tyneside, opened in 1975. The track was also used to test cars for the Hong Kong MTR, also built by Metro-Cammell. However, to accommodate the larger size of the Hong Kong cars, a short aboveground test tunnel had to be demolished. The test track was built on the route of an old mineral wagonway, and it is now home to the Stephenson Railway Museum.

Related Topics:
German - Metro-Cammell - Birmingham - Alstom - 1975 - Hong Kong - MTR - Wagonway - Stephenson Railway Museum

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