Tyne & Wear Metro

Tyne & Wear metro is a rapid transport system that operates around Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, South Tyneside & North Tyneside. Most of the network uses former railway lines that was operated by British Rail pre 1970s.

There are 2 purpose-built sections of the network, these are the section of track that goes to the Airport, opened November 1991 and the underground section in the city centre. There are 60 stations on the network. These are a mixture of rebuilt stations from the time the network was part of British Rail and a collection of brand-new purpose-built stations.

The Tyne & Wear Metro was the first railway in the UK to be purposely designed to be fully accessible to passengers with disabilities and limited mobility. As part of this all stations on the network have step free access.

Now in my opinion… The Tyne & Wear metro should be part of the national rail network. It really is no different to the Merseyrail network in Liverpool. It even runs on national rail lines between Heworth & Sunderland! There would be many advantages to this, one would be through ticketing, like Middlesbrough to Whitley Bay for example.

Over the years there has been a couple of proposals for extending the network. The proposals have all featured around the Pelaw & South Hylton. The first expansion was to run a line from Pelaw to to Washington using part of the former Leamside line. The other option also includes the previous proposal, but it would be extended to form a loop line that would connect up with South Hylton and on to Sunderland. Both proposals in my opinion are good ideas, but if they going to do anything, the second proposal would make the most sense.

That said, the future is bright for the Tyne & Wear metro. The current fleet is the original fleet that the network started with back in the 80s. It’s safe to say that the current rolling stock is past its best! The good news is that in 2024 there will be new rolling stock starting out on the network! There will be 46 new Stadler Class 555 units.