Tyne and Wear Metro
Tyne and Wear Metro
11 Jul 2013 08:23
London Underground-style gates are being installed at 13 of the busiest stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro
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Dan Richardson from Nexus checks the new equipment Dan Richardson from Nexus checks the new equipment
It'll soon be all change for passengers on the Metro as testing begins on new barriers to deter fare dodgers.
The London Underground-style gates are being installed at 13 of the busiest stations.
One aim is to reduce fare dodging which costs about £1m a year in lost income.
Inspectors will still travel around the Metro checking tickets, but will focus on suburban stations which don’t have gates.
The switch-on is scheduled to start in September and all the gates should be working by the end of the year.
Acceptance tester Dan Richardson has spent 16 months on the project and he has now begun testing the equipment to make certain everything is working properly.
“I’m very impressed by the system,’’ he said. “It is a necessity for any transport undertaking to have barriers.
“It will help eradicate a lot of fares evasion and anti-social behaviour.’’
The automatic electronic gates will operate at central area stations in Newcastle, Gateshead, North Shields and South Shields.
The move will mean big changes for passengers, and Tyne & Wear transport executive Nexus says the switch-on will be phased to get them used to the new system.
Extra staff will be on hand at stations with gates to assist passengers after the switch-on.
The cost of the gates is around £7.5m which is part of a £24m contract to install 225 new ticket machines in all the Metro’s 60 stations.
The equipment is being supplied by a German company, Scheidt & Bachmann, as part of the 11-year, £389m modernisation of the Metro.
Passengers will ‘touch’ their Pop smartcard on a card reader or insert their paper ticket into the front of the gate to get through to station platforms.
Elderly and disabled passengers are having their gold cards switched to the new system as they come up for renewal.
Those who still have paper gold cards when the gates are switched on, will show them to a member of staff who will let them through.
Metro stations without gates have yellow smartcard validators which passengers with a Pop card must use at the start of the journey so they can get through the barrier if they are leaving at one of the gated stations.
Deputy director general of Nexus, Tobyn Hughes, said: “We are moving closer to the big switch on of Metro’s new automatic ticket gates. This will transform the way people access the Metro system and allow us to reduce fare evasion.
“At the moment we are in the process of testing the gates and training staff on how to operate them. All Metro stations with gates have to be staffed when the gates are operational.
“We will publicise a start date well in advance of the whole system going live.”
Stations where electronic gates will operate are Airport, Jesmond, Haymarket, Monument, Central, St James, Manors and Byker all in Newcastle, along with Gateshead, Heworth, North Shields, South Shields and Chichester.
Source: Evening Chronicle
Metro barriers introduced in fight against fare-dodges
11 Jul 2013 08:23
London Underground-style gates are being installed at 13 of the busiest stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro
Share on print Share on email
Dan Richardson from Nexus checks the new equipment Dan Richardson from Nexus checks the new equipment
It'll soon be all change for passengers on the Metro as testing begins on new barriers to deter fare dodgers.
The London Underground-style gates are being installed at 13 of the busiest stations.
One aim is to reduce fare dodging which costs about £1m a year in lost income.
Inspectors will still travel around the Metro checking tickets, but will focus on suburban stations which don’t have gates.
The switch-on is scheduled to start in September and all the gates should be working by the end of the year.
Acceptance tester Dan Richardson has spent 16 months on the project and he has now begun testing the equipment to make certain everything is working properly.
“I’m very impressed by the system,’’ he said. “It is a necessity for any transport undertaking to have barriers.
“It will help eradicate a lot of fares evasion and anti-social behaviour.’’
The automatic electronic gates will operate at central area stations in Newcastle, Gateshead, North Shields and South Shields.
The move will mean big changes for passengers, and Tyne & Wear transport executive Nexus says the switch-on will be phased to get them used to the new system.
Extra staff will be on hand at stations with gates to assist passengers after the switch-on.
The cost of the gates is around £7.5m which is part of a £24m contract to install 225 new ticket machines in all the Metro’s 60 stations.
The equipment is being supplied by a German company, Scheidt & Bachmann, as part of the 11-year, £389m modernisation of the Metro.
Passengers will ‘touch’ their Pop smartcard on a card reader or insert their paper ticket into the front of the gate to get through to station platforms.
Elderly and disabled passengers are having their gold cards switched to the new system as they come up for renewal.
Those who still have paper gold cards when the gates are switched on, will show them to a member of staff who will let them through.
Metro stations without gates have yellow smartcard validators which passengers with a Pop card must use at the start of the journey so they can get through the barrier if they are leaving at one of the gated stations.
Deputy director general of Nexus, Tobyn Hughes, said: “We are moving closer to the big switch on of Metro’s new automatic ticket gates. This will transform the way people access the Metro system and allow us to reduce fare evasion.
“At the moment we are in the process of testing the gates and training staff on how to operate them. All Metro stations with gates have to be staffed when the gates are operational.
“We will publicise a start date well in advance of the whole system going live.”
Stations where electronic gates will operate are Airport, Jesmond, Haymarket, Monument, Central, St James, Manors and Byker all in Newcastle, along with Gateshead, Heworth, North Shields, South Shields and Chichester.
Source: Evening Chronicle
