wear metro overview type rapid transit light rail status in use locale tyne and wear stations 60 services green line airport south hylton yellow line st james south shields daily ridership 109 600 2015 ridership over 40 million 2015 1 operation opened 11 august 1980 owner public operator s nexus arriva uk trains depot s south gosforth technical line length 74.5 km 46.3 mi 2 track gauge 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in electrification 1500 v dc operating speed 80 km h 50 mph v t e tyne & wear metro legend airport newcastle int l airport callerton parkway bank foot kingston park fawdon wansbeck road regent centre monkseaton whitley bay west monkseaton cullercoats shiremoor tynemouth northumberland park north shields palmersville meadow well ashington blyth & tyne line percy main east coast main line benton howdon four lane ends willington gut longbenton hadrian road south gosforth depot wallsend walkergate south gosforth chillingham road ilford road byker west jesmond ouseburn east coast main line jesmond manors haymarket manors curve stock line monument st james central station queen elizabeth ii bridge over river tyne gateshead gateshead stadium felling heworth pelaw pelaw sidings hebburn fellgate jarrow river don river don brockley whins bede east boldon by pass loop east boldon simonside seaburn tyne dock stadium of light chichester st peter s south shields river wear south shields sidings sunderland sunderland sidings park lane university millfield pallion south hylton durham coast line omitted for clarity the tyne and wear metro referred to locally as simply the metro is a rapid transit and light rail system in north east england 3 4 serving newcastle upon tyne gateshead south tyneside north tyneside and sunderland in the tyne and wear region . the metro is also described as the first modern light rail system in the united kingdom . 5 it opened in 1980 and in 2007 2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of 74.5 kilometres 46.3 mi . 2 it is the second largest of the three metro systems in the united kingdom after the london underground ; the other being glasgow subway . it is operated by db regio tyne & wear limited a subsidiary of arriva uk trains under contract to nexus . 6 contents 1 overview 1.1 route 2 history 2.1 planning and construction 2.1.1 route 2.1.2 metric 2.1.3 integration 2.1.4 stations 2.2 development 2.3 part privatisation 3 current developments 3.1 metro all change programme phase 1 3.2 metro all change programme phase 2 3.3 metro all change programme phase 3 4 proposed extensions and suggested improvements 5 rolling stock 6 opening dates 7 layout and distances 8 61st station beacon hill 9 see also 10 references 11 further reading 12 external links overview this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia s quality standards . the specific problem is this section needs to provide a structured summary of what the metro is and how it works please help improve this article if you can . march 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message metro was the first underground train network in the uk to install repeaters allowing customers to use their mobile phone in tunnels an achievement that is being closely watched by the london underground . metro does not allow the carriage of standard bicycles though there are storage lockers for these at some stations . only small folding bicycles are permitted on the metro and technically only nexus approved models of folding bikes are permitted . photography is allowed on metro but written permission is required . furthermore nexus reserve the right to and have often insisted upon chaperone any filming or photography taking place on the network . this rule however does not apply to sunderland station because of its being owned by network rail and managed by northern . smoking has been forbidden since opening ; this was one of the first comprehensive smoking bans . 7 metro installed ticket barriers at 13 stations on the network during a modernisation programme in 2013 2014 while the remaining stations have no fixed ticket controls . despite this the tyne and wear metro has the third highest level of passenger income per year 45.2 million in 2013 2014 of the eight light rail systems in england . 8 checks are made by roving patrols of inspectors . ticket machines that accept coins notes and credit debit cards were introduced during the modernisation programme . many stations throughout the system feature commissioned works by various artists . 9 examples include the following a large scale public artwork by nayan kulkarni nocturne consisting of a moving kaleidoscope of light travelling along the queen elizabeth ii bridge which carries the metro between newcastle and gateshead was inaugurated in april 2007 . wallsend station is probably the only public facility in britain in which the signage is in latin . artist michael pinsky was commissioned to create the bilingual signs and a map of hadrian s wall in the style of the metro map to commemorate the area s roman heritage and its location near the segedunum roman fort at the end of the wall . the project was part of newcastle and gateshead s unsuccessful joint bid to become european capital of culture in 2008 . 10 metro sign near newcastle university metro has a distinctive design and corporate identity to distinguish itself from the decrepit rail system it replaced and to match the livery of the buses then in use . the calvert typeface used for signage and in printed materials was designed specifically for the metro by margaret calvert . the corporate identity was revised in 1998 de emphasising the calvert font and adding the word metro to its m logo . a further revision in 2008 and subsequently rolled out re emphasises the calvert font most obviously in posters and in signage at the refurbished haymarket station in the centre of newcastle . route see also list of tyne and wear metro stations metro consists of two lines the green line which runs between newcastle airport and south hylton via newcastle city centre gateshead and sunderland and the yellow line which runs between st james and south shields via north shields tynemouth and whitley bay then looping back on itself and going south via the city centre gateshead and jarrow . 11 list of routes stations in bold indicate terminating stations green line yellow line airport callerton parkway bank foot kingston park fawdon wansbeck road regent centre south gosforth ilford road west jesmond jesmond haymarket monument central station gateshead gateshead stadium felling heworth pelaw fellgate brockley whins east boldon seaburn stadium of light st peter s sunderland park lane university millfield pallion south hylton extra peak time journeys between regent centre and pelaw st james monument manors byker chillingham road walkergate wallsend hadrian road howdon percy main meadow well north shields bus service to shields ferry tynemouth cullercoats whitley bay monkseaton west monkseaton shiremoor northumberland park palmersville benton four lane ends longbenton south gosforth ilford road west jesmond jesmond haymarket monument central station gateshead gateshead stadium felling heworth pelaw hebburn jarrow bede simonside tyne dock chichester south shields 5 minute walk for shields ferry extra peak time journeys between monkseaton or benton and pelaw via south gosforth originally there was also a red line between heworth later pelaw and benton and a blue line between st james and north shields . additional trains ran on these lines during peak hours to increase the frequency at the busier stations . many of these additional services still operate as yellow line services . geographically accurate map of the metro system there are nine fully underground stations on the network six in newcastle upon tyne one in gateshead and two in sunderland and a further five sub surface stations regent centre four lane ends chichester heworth and byker . this means there are 14 below ground stations or 23 % of the whole network . history planning and construction plans for the metro were first drawn up in 1973 by the tyne and wear passenger transport authority now known as nexus . the plans involved converting the existing but run down 26 mile 42 km long network of local rail services into an electrified rapid transit system with eight miles 13 km of new infrastructure linking them up . the system was intended to form part of an integrated transport network with buses acting as feeders to purpose built interchanges . construction work began in 1974 and the original system was opened in stages from 1980 to 1984 . some extensions to the original system have since been built . a short extension to newcastle airport was constructed in 1991 . 12 in 2002 an 11 mile 18.5 km extension was opened to sunderland . 13 route metro leaving heworth station in 1985 when the system began operating in 1980 it was the second modern railway in the uk after merseyrail to use of existing railway alignments to create a modern rail transit system 2 linking them with purpose built tunnels under central newcastle and gateshead . earlier examples of using existing railway alignments for new urban rail services include the district central and northern lines on the london underground and the rer in paris ; later examples include manchester metrolink and croydon tramlink . much of the metro s route was part of one of the world s first electric urban railway systems which opened in 1904 on existing passenger lines see tyneside electrics . 2 the metro alignment includes 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 monkwearmouth near the stadium of light . both opened in 1839 making the metro one of the world s oldest local rail transport systems . apart from engineering works such as when being converted to the metro the two lines have been in continual passenger use for over 170 years . in the case of the 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 . this is also the oldest section of the metro route dating back to 1834 . before tunnelling under newcastle and gateshead could begin several disused mineshafts in newcastle and gateshead some of them hundreds of years old had to be filled in ; the disused victoria tunnel used to transport coal under the city in 1842 1860 had to be investigated . not all of the tunnel remained but some sections were strengthened to allow the metro tunnels to be dug above . metric the tyne and wear metro was the first railway in the uk to operate using the metric system ; all its speeds and distances are stated in metric units only . integration four lane ends one of many transport interchanges built around a metro station when the metro opened it was claimed to be the hub of the uk s first integrated public transport system . metro was intended to cover trunk journeys while buses were reoriented toward shorter local trips integrated with the metro schedule to bring passengers to and from metro stations using unified ticketing . much was made of metro s interchange stations such as four lane ends and regent centre which combined a large parking facility with a bus and metro station ; 4 this distinction is no longer emphasised . some passengers complained that metro integration was pursued overzealously and for example bus passengers to newcastle upon tyne would be forced to change to metro in gateshead for a short trip rather than have the bus route continue for a short distance into newcastle . integration lasted until deregulation of bus routes in 1986 . it is still possible to buy