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Contents 1. Metro
2. Bus services
3. Shields Ferry
4 Assistance for disabled passengers
5. Concessionary Travel Schemes
6. Helping people train and study 1. Metro Tyne and Wear Metro carries 36 million passengers a year, and is the backbone of the area’s public transport network. The system, maintained and operated by Nexus, has 59 stations with peak time trains running every three minutes through the centre of Newcastle and Gateshead. Metro has led the way in innovation - as the UK’s first modern light rail service, the first to be designed with disabled passengers in mind, the first to be non-smoking and the first to provide mobile phone reception within tunnels. Since opening in 1980 it has been extended to Newcastle Airport (1991) providing a 20 minute link to the city centre and to Sunderland (2002). We are now promoting a £500m programme to renew and upgrade Metro, the most cost-efficient urban rail network in the UK, over the next 20 years. Return to top 2. Bus services Bus services in Tyne and Wear are provided by commercial operators who define and operate 90% of routes without regulation or subsidy. Nexus monitors bus service performance and secure the remaining approximate ten percent of routes, around 200 services or parts of services, by subsidy on behalf of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority. We do this to ensure communities retain a bus service, particularly early in the morning, at nights and at weekends, where commercial operators are otherwise unwilling to operate. These services are also important in maintaining transport links to workplaces and hospitals. Nexus also: - manages major bus stations at Park Lane Sunderland (the busiest transport interchange in the country outside London), Eldon Square and Haymarket Newcastle, Gateshead Interchange, Wallsend, Jarrow, Blaydon and South Shields;
- specifies high standards of accessibility and emissions on the bus services we secure; and
- encourages innovations such as ‘easy access’ ramps, real time information at bus stops and their surrounds, and bus priority schemes across the network. An example is the Route 19 service in the Stephenson Jobs Corridor in North Tyneside - Britain’s fastest growing bus service.
Return to top 3. Shields Ferry There has been a ferry across the Tyne between North and South Shields since the 14th century. Nexus runs the only remaining cross-Tyne ferry, the Shields Ferry service, which carries around 500,000 passengers per year. The service operates between 6.45am-10.50pm Mondays to Saturdays and between 10.15am-6.00pm on Sundays. As well as running a passenger service, the ferry operates afternoon and evening river cruises and private hire trips giving people the chance to view the changing face of life and industry along the banks of the Tyne between Shields and Newcastle. It also operates at the lowest subsidy per passenger of any ferry in the UK. Return to top 4. Assistance for disabled passengers One of our objectives is to provide greater personal accessibility and mobility to the people of Tyne and Wear. Ten percent of Tyne and Wear's population have some form of disability or have great difficulty using conventional public transport.
We have established, operate and manage TaxiLink, a door-to-door service which enables thousands of scheme members to get out and about. Members, who must meet eligibility criteria, can book TaxiLink vehicles in advance through our Call Centre.
Alongside TaxiLink our new LinkUp bus network, the 'bus that thinks its a taxi' provides personalised local journeys for all passengers based on agreed meeting points. These journeys are bookable in advance, within 16 local areas of Tyne and Wear. We promote the introduction and use of low floor, easy access buses. As a result of this and our support for ten percent of the network, two thirds of the local bus fleet now meets high accessibility standards. This figure is rising as the bus fleet increasingly complies with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. By continually reviewing and improving conventional public transport we hope to encourage more disabled passengers to use it, thereby lessening their reliance on special transport. Return to top 5. Concessionary Travel Schemes Residents of Tyne and Wear enjoy several concessionary travel schemes administered by Nexus which provide reduced price travel on different modes of transport in the county. An estimated 36 million journeys per annum are made by the elderly and disabled people and 12 million by children at school times. The current annual budget for the provision of Concessionary Travel (CT) is £40.38 million. - Free travel for pensioners and disabled people
From 1 April 2006 pensioners and people who are registered as disabled and are resident in Tyne and Wear, have been able to enjoy free local bus travel within the Tyne and Wear boundary on production of a valid Concessionary Travel Pass. This is valid from 9.30am on weekdays and all day weekends. The purchase of a £12.00 annual Metro Gold Card extends this privilege to the Tyne and Wear Metro system and Sunderland-Newcastle railway. A Concessionary Travel Pass allows travel on the Shields Ferry at a concessionary rate. Residents can travel before 9.30am Mondays-Fridays if they have a valid hospital appointment card. Carers travelling with TaxiLink members must now pay the full adult fare on conventional public transport. - All day disabled passes
These are available free to people who are registered as disabled and attending work or education who, as a result, need to travel before the ‘start’ point of 9.30am for concessionary travel. 1,500 people hold an all day Disabled Pass, making 300,000 journeys per year in total. - Child concessionary fares
These are provided at a concessionary rate Mondays-Fridays up to 7.00pm in the evening. At other times the operator’s commercial child fare will be charged. To be entitled to concessionary child fares an Under 16 Card must be shown at all times. The present concessionary rate of 40p a journey (50p Transfare) is one of the best in the country. There are 57,500 Under 16 Card holders making 8 million journeys per year. Nexus funds this scheme by paying an operator the difference between the concessionary fare and the commercial child fare. Accompanied children under the age of five travel free in Tyne and Wear. Return to top 6. Helping people train and study Nexus is committed to helping young people attend and continue education through service provision and ticketing. For example: - We provide more than 300 dedicated scholars’ bus services used by pupils attending more than 90 schools. These services carry 2.24 million passengers every year. This network means that 95% of children in Tyne and Wear live within 40 minutes journey time by public transport of an appropriate school. Our child concessionary fare of 40p for a bus journey also offers one of the lowest fixed prices in the country.
- Our Metro Student Card offers discounted travel for students attending higher education in Tyne and Wear. An annual all-zone pass is £320.00 compared to £399.00 for a standard card. Passes can be purchased for a full semester, mid-semester and summer-only basis. Passes can also be purchased for the Newcastle and Sunderland areas only.
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