Apologies if there's already a thread on this (if there is I can't find it), and not sure if this belongs in Light Rail & Metros or Railway History & Nostalgia, but does anyone have any memories of the early days of the Tyne & Wear Metro (or of its construction, opening to passengers or official opening)?
I believe that it opened in stages starting in August 1980, and that it was officially opened by the Queen in November 1981. In some ways it seems a bit odd that the official opening didn't take place until over a year after the first phase of the network opened, but maybe Tyne & Wear (now Nexus) PTE wanted to wait until a large part of the network was open.
I think I first went to Newcastle and first rode on the Metro in 1983 when I was 8. In those days it was a 5p flat fare for children!
Also in the early days, until bus deregulation in 1986, the buses and Metro were integrated and there were interavailable tickets covering both modes.
In the 1980s and '90s Metro tickets were issued as Edmondson card sized yellow tickets with a thin brown stripe on the rear, very similar to the Paris Metro tickets of that time.
Until about the late 1980s most stations had ticket-operated turnstiles at least in Newcastle city centre. These were then removed, or in some cases retained but freewheeled so that you no longer needed to present your ticket to pass through them. From then on the Metro relied entirely on spot checks on trains and at stations by roving revenue protection inspectors. In recent years ticket gates have been reintroduced at some central area stations, however (and the old style tickets replaced with standard credit card sized tickets).
At least in the 1980s and '90s the warning signal before the doors closed consisted of a high-pitched hum. This was replaced by a standard bleeping sound similar to that on the London Underground and most national rail trains (known as the "hustle alarm" in modern day railway parlance) when the Metro cars were refurbished.
I think my dad went to the official opening of the Metro or knew someone who went, as he was given a commemorative poster (which I had on my bedroom wall for many years as a child) and a blank audio tape with a recording of the Metro launch song, the lyrics of which I can still remember:
Buses and Metro make the going easy
Wherever you're going in Tyne & Wear
From here to there, from there to here
Buses and Metro are the best
From north to south, from east to west
Rapid transit integrated transport system
Which means you hop on a bus til you come to the Metro
Get on the Metro and you're there
Efficient and frequent from morning til night
Buses and metro will serve you all right
I've searched online for Tyne & Wear metro launch to see if I could find that song but I couldn't find it anywhere. I did find this, though:
Note that car 4001 still has an old style high pitched hum rather than a bleeper, albeit with a "doors closing" voice added. I presume 4001 has been deliberately kept in as near as possible to as-built condition (apart from any modifications needed to comply with modern day disabled access regulations) because of its pioneer celebrity status.
I also came across this:
And this:
And this advert from the early days:
I believe that it opened in stages starting in August 1980, and that it was officially opened by the Queen in November 1981. In some ways it seems a bit odd that the official opening didn't take place until over a year after the first phase of the network opened, but maybe Tyne & Wear (now Nexus) PTE wanted to wait until a large part of the network was open.
I think I first went to Newcastle and first rode on the Metro in 1983 when I was 8. In those days it was a 5p flat fare for children!
Also in the early days, until bus deregulation in 1986, the buses and Metro were integrated and there were interavailable tickets covering both modes.
In the 1980s and '90s Metro tickets were issued as Edmondson card sized yellow tickets with a thin brown stripe on the rear, very similar to the Paris Metro tickets of that time.
Until about the late 1980s most stations had ticket-operated turnstiles at least in Newcastle city centre. These were then removed, or in some cases retained but freewheeled so that you no longer needed to present your ticket to pass through them. From then on the Metro relied entirely on spot checks on trains and at stations by roving revenue protection inspectors. In recent years ticket gates have been reintroduced at some central area stations, however (and the old style tickets replaced with standard credit card sized tickets).
At least in the 1980s and '90s the warning signal before the doors closed consisted of a high-pitched hum. This was replaced by a standard bleeping sound similar to that on the London Underground and most national rail trains (known as the "hustle alarm" in modern day railway parlance) when the Metro cars were refurbished.
I think my dad went to the official opening of the Metro or knew someone who went, as he was given a commemorative poster (which I had on my bedroom wall for many years as a child) and a blank audio tape with a recording of the Metro launch song, the lyrics of which I can still remember:
Buses and Metro make the going easy
Wherever you're going in Tyne & Wear
From here to there, from there to here
Buses and Metro are the best
From north to south, from east to west
Rapid transit integrated transport system
Which means you hop on a bus til you come to the Metro
Get on the Metro and you're there
Efficient and frequent from morning til night
Buses and metro will serve you all right
I've searched online for Tyne & Wear metro launch to see if I could find that song but I couldn't find it anywhere. I did find this, though:
Note that car 4001 still has an old style high pitched hum rather than a bleeper, albeit with a "doors closing" voice added. I presume 4001 has been deliberately kept in as near as possible to as-built condition (apart from any modifications needed to comply with modern day disabled access regulations) because of its pioneer celebrity status.
I also came across this:
And this:
And this advert from the early days:
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