Tyne and Wear Metro

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The Tyne and Wear Metro is a light rail metro system in Tyne and Wear in north-east England, which 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.

Overview

Yellow, Green - existing Metro lines run by Nexus. Black - Tyne passenger ferry run by Nexus. Dark grey - proposed extensions on existing rail lines. Light grey - proposed extensions requiring new track.

The Metro system has two lines:

The majority of track is overground, built mainly on existing trackbeds, but there are purpose-built underground sections in Newcastle and Gateshead. The section between Pelaw and Sunderland is shared with mainline trains.

The Tyne and Wear Metro is also the first underground train network in the United Kingdom that allows customers to use their mobile phone across the entire network, an achievement which is being closely watched by the London Underground. The Metro does not however permit the carriage of standard bicycles, a policy which has received much criticism from environmental campaigners (only small folding bicycles are permitted).

Opening dates

The system opened in stages:

Metro stations

Purpose-built stations

The following stations were built specifically for the Tyne and Wear Metro system.

Converted stations

The following stations were originally built solely for mainline trains, but have since been converted or re-built for Metro use. All except Sunderland now serve Metro trains only.

The future

A new station, Northumberland Park, is due to open in 2005. It will serve a new housing development between Shiremoor and the A19 Holystone Interchange. The new station will be located adjacent to existing track between Palmersville and Shiremoor on the northern loop section of the yellow line. In addition, Haymarket station in Newcastle city centre is to be renovated, and will include leisure and retail facilities.

There have been many suggestions for potential Metro extensions, but none of these is likely to be built in the near future. There are several reason for this. The Metrocars are nearing the end of their service life, and will need to be replaced by around 2015. The Sunderland extension was built without requiring any new trains; consequently, any significant new extension would require new rolling stock.

In 2002 Nexus unveiled Project Orpheus, an expansion plan that would extend the Metro system by adding new sections using street running, thus changing the nature of the Metro to a supertram-like system. Nexus argued that this would provide a cost-effective way to introduce rail service to parts of Tyne and Wear the current Metro did not reach. The plan listed a number of routes, not all of which were to be built as rail lines; transitional bus services were envisioned that could be replaced by trams as demand increased.

However, the future of Project Orpheus is in doubt, thanks to the government's present value-for-money policies for public transport. This increased scrutiny has affected expansion plans for other light-rail systems such as Manchester Metrolink, where an expansion scheme was halted even after construction had begun. Critics have said that government policies now overtly favour bus schemes. A Metro link to Washington failed to gain government backing, despite the existence of substantial railway rights of way to both Pelaw and Sunderland; preliminary support was offered only to a guided bus scheme.

Another project, to remove the last section of single track in the Metro system, between Pelaw and Bede, would cost around 10 million pounds, and would allow freight trains to use the Metro infrastructure. Again, the government has expressed doubts as to whether this would be cost-effective.

Among extensions proposed at various times:

  • Washington, either via the disused Leamside Line or a new route. Present planning may lead to the Leamside Line being opened as a conventional passenger rail line instead. The government favours guided-bus service to Washington.
  • Blyth & Ashington, running on existing little-used freight lines. Northumberland Park station is being built to provide a link to a new rail service to these communities; it will not, however, be a part of the Metro system.
  • Tyne Dock to East Boldon along a dismantled railway alignment could easily be added, as only a short distance lies between two Metro lines. This may be the most likely future Metro extension, but the lack of rolling stock makes it unlikely at present.
  • Killingworth and Cramlington have been planned since Metro was on the drawing board, but would require widening of the busy East Coast main line to four tracks, which would be expensive.
  • Newcastle's west end would require entirely new track involving tunneling and bridging in hilly terrain; this would be very costly and is pehaps least likely to receive funding, though would probably have the highest potential ridership.
  • Ryhope, in southern Sunderland, has been mooted as an extension using existing railway lines. Project Orpheus also went to Ryhope, but using a different route.
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