Big changes to Tyne and Wear Metro ticket fares are expected to come into force in April this year. If approved by the mayor Kim McGuinness and the North East Combined Authority next week, the shift will see the cost of a single ticket capped at £2.50 and a day’s travel at £5 – but only for passengers using a Pop pay as you go card to travel.
Pop card changes
There will be winners and losers from the changes. Pop card single ticket prices will increase 10% from £2 to £2.20 for a one-zone ticket, but will then be set at £2.50 for all multi-zone tickets – a major saving of between 13.8% and 34.2% depending on how far you travel.
Pop card day tickets will jump 6.5% from £3.10 to £3.30 for one zone and 7.1% from £4.20 to £4.50 for two zones, with the new cap system not helping those people making shorter journeys. But passengers travelling three zones will see a 20p saving, down from £5.20 to £5, and four-zone travellers using the Northumberland Line will see their Pop daily cap fall 19.4% from £6.20 to £5.
Paper tickets
Everyone still buying paper tickets to travel on the Metro will experience fare increases. A single paper ticket will increase in price from £3 to £3.20 for one zone, £4 to £4.30 for two zones, and £4.70 to £5.10 for all zones. Paper day tickets will go up from £4.60 to £4.80 for one zone, £5.80 to £6.10 for two zones, and £6.70 to £7 for all zones.
Metro Gold Card
The Metro Gold Card, which offers unlimited off-peak Metro travel for pensioners and customers with disabilities for annual payment, is proposed to increase for Tyne and Wear residents from £15 to £18. Gold Card pricing for residents outside of Tyne and Wear will be frozen at £24.
Season Tickets
All Metro season tickets will increase by an average of 4.6%. This will include weekly, monthly, and annual passes. However, Nexus says that it soon plans to introduce three-day price caps on the Pop card as an alternative option for regular passengers.
Pop Blue card
All fares for young people will be frozen at current rates – including the £1 single fare and £2.20 day rates on a Pop Blue card.
Shields Ferry
On the Shields Ferry, single tickets for adults will increase by 20p for paper tickets to £2.80 and 10p for Pay as You Go to £1.70. Day tickets will increase by 20p for Pay as You Go to £3.00 and by 10p to £4.20 for paper tickets. Weekly and four-week passes for adults will increase, by 50p and £2.50 respectively. All tickets for young people will have their price frozen.
Parking fees increase
Parking at Metro park and ride stations will also rise – impacting people who park at Callerton Parkway, Bank Foot, Regent Centre, Four Lane Ends, Northumberland Park and Stadium of Light Metro. A day’s stay will increase in price from £1.50 to £1.80, a four-week permit from £20 to £24, and annual permits from £245 to £295.
Overall, the changes amount to an average 1.5% fare increase and are expected to generate an extra £700,000 of revenue for Metro operator Nexus. However, the introduction of the capped Metro fares will have to be subsidised by the mayor’s office to the tune of around £1 million in order to compensate for lost income from longer journeys.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
