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Metro’s newest station at Simonside on South Tyneside has been used by more than 130,000 people in the six months since it first opened. Nexus, who own and operate Metro, said today that the figures for passenger flow for Simonside since opening on March 17 stood at 134,000. The figure is the combined total for the number of passengers boarding and arriving at the station. Director General of Nexus, Bernard Garner, said: “The six month passenger figures for Simonside are very good and are growing all the time. The 134,000 people we have seen arriving and departing from there certainly justifies our decision to build a station in the area. “In a very short period of time Simonside, like all the other stations on the system, has become a key part of the local community, providing a cost effective link to places of work and leisure in South Shields and in Newcastle and Sunderland. “This station is just the beginning of our £600m plans for Metro Re-invigoration and some exciting times lie ahead for Metro passengers as we look to modernise the entire network.” Councillor Tom Hanson, Vice Chair of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority (TWPTA), said: “When we brought the new Metro station to Simonside, we also opened up a whole host of job, leisure and lifestyle opportunities to local people. “We firmly believed that the station had the potential to make a positive difference to people's lives and, judging by these passenger numbers, that has certainly been the case. It is encouraging to see that passenger numbers continue to grow, and I look forward to seeing the station go from strength to strength.” Simonside Metro station became the 60th station on the Metro network when it opened to passengers in March. The £3.2m Metro station at Simonside offers passengers five trains an hour in the direction of South Shields town centre, Gateshead and the centre of Newcastle. It provides a link to essential community facilities, places of work, leisure and shopping.
The Simonside project was part-funded by the EU’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which contributed some £800,000 towards the total cost. Nexus carried out a full public consultation before pressing ahead with the plans for the new Metro station at Simonside and the scheme was given support. The contractor who built the new Metro station at Simonside was Balfour Beatty.
Ambitious plans Nexus is pressing ahead with its plans for Metro Re-invigoration. The Government has announced a commitment to investing over £300m in Phase Two and Phase Three, the renewal and modernisation of life-expired parts of Metro and, in addition, to supporting the continued operation of the system for the next nine years, starting in April 2010. The Tyne and Wear PTA and Nexus has ambitious plans to modernise the current system – completely refurbishing trains and investing about £60 million into refurbishing older stations to make them brighter, safer, more comfortable places to wait. A large part of the money will go towards modernising ‘behind the scenes’ items such as communications, overhead power lines and track to make sure Metro continues to offer a frequent, reliable service. Money will also be spent on maintenance and replacement of ageing lifts, escalators, bridges and tunnels. This deal lets Nexus plan for the long term. Nexus aren’t being given a single lump sum – the money will be paid year by year based on a detailed modernisation and maintenance programme agreed with Government. Nexus has also secured funding for Phase One of Metro Re-invigoration. The Government has released £13m to replace Metro ticket machines with machines that accept notes and bank cards payments as well as coins. The money will also be used to install electronic barriers at 13 key stations.
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