The Tyne and Wear Metro has hosted a knowledge sharing day with London Underground staff to boost customer care and share railway industry best practice.
Nexus, the public body which owns and manages Metro, welcomed a group of 18 frontline staff, including a team who work at the busy Tower Hill Tube station in London, which is used by 22 million passengers a year.
The visit saw Central Station in Newcastle twinned with Tower Hill in London to foster new links between the staff who work at both.
Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, said: “This was about the people we rely on to give passengers the best possible Metro service on stations and trains meeting their opposite numbers from another city. It is a relationship we want to build.
“This is just one way we are working to improve the services that we offer our passengers. I was delighted to welcome our colleagues from London Underground to Metro.”
Metro Services Director, Chris Carson, said: “This visit has been a great experience for Metro staff. They have had the chance to meet with their colleagues from London Underground and talk with them face to face about a whole range of issues connected with customer care.
“By sharing knowledge we will be able to make improvements to what we offer our customers here in Tyne and Wear.”
Tower Hill and Central Station were chosen for twinning because both are gateway stations close to visitor attractions and hotels as well as city centre offices and shops. Both stations also share a Roman connection – Tower Hill sits by the Roman Wall of London and Central Station is on the line of Hadrian’s Wall.
During their visit to Tyneside the TfL staff got the chance to meet gateline staff at some of Metro’s busiest stations in the centre of Newcastle.
They also went out on the Metro system with the ticket inspectors, and visited some of the local bus and Metro interchanges.
There was a chance to see the work of the staff in the Metro Control Room at South Gosforth, along with the Metro Train Fleet Depot.
Metro staff hope to visit the London Underground in the coming months on a reciprocal knowledge sharing visit hosted by TfL.