Think I'll write to them to see what they have to say. If they tell me that I do need to retrieve some sort of permit, I will ask in advance for some sort of e-mail copy to be sent as an attachment.
If this is not allowed as they have to see me in-person, then I shall take photos without a permit. It's really discouraging for members of the public to be a rail enthusiast if they have to go through a long and dwindling process in order to receive a permit.
I even read on one of the links that even if you do retrieve it, you have to spend it alongside a member of Nexus' staff? But here's the punchline... For £9 an hour?!
Good one, Nexus.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that £9 bit! :s

A replacement bus service was operating between South Gosforth, Longbenton and Four Lane Ends this afternoon, which continued into the early evening peak-time period.

I only saw one of the replacement buses; it was a rather good-looking, modern TGM vehicle! I don't know the reg or make but I've seen this bus a few times at Four Lane Ends on a morning where it sometimes operates the Scholars 115 which it shares with Arriva. Kind of looks like an Optare double-decker like an Olympus or something.

First time in over three weeks I decided to catch the 55 instead of the Metro, and then I miss the chance of travelling on that beast of a vehicle; gutted isn't the word! On Facebook, Tyne and Wear Metro claim that there were six buses operating despite someone claiming to have only seen one, and then say that buses should be running at a 15 minute frequency. I wouldn't have thought South Gosforth - Longbenton - Four Lane Ends would require as great as six buses to run at a 15 minute frequency!

Anyway, news article here - http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/52174

edit - looks like the replacement bus service is operating all the way to Shiremoor! - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-eas...z2HOlE1P7F

(08 Jan 2013, 7:52 pm)Brandon wrote I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that £9 bit! :s

A replacement bus service was operating between South Gosforth, Longbenton and Four Lane Ends this afternoon, which continued into the early evening peak-time period.

I only saw one of the replacement buses; it was a rather good-looking, modern TGM vehicle! I don't know the reg or make but I've seen this bus a few times at Four Lane Ends on a morning where it sometimes operates the Scholars 115 which it shares with Arriva. Kind of looks like an Optare double-decker like an Olympus or something.

First time in over three weeks I decided to catch the 55 instead of the Metro, and then I miss the chance of travelling on that beast of a vehicle; gutted isn't the word! On Facebook, Tyne and Wear Metro claim that there were six buses operating despite someone claiming to have only seen one, and then say that buses should be running at a 15 minute frequency. I wouldn't have thought South Gosforth - Longbenton - Four Lane Ends would require as great as six buses to run at a 15 minute frequency!

Anyway, news article here - http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/52174

And a better pic too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdjt42/836...hotostream

(08 Jan 2013, 7:52 pm)Brandon wrote I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that £9 bit! :s

A replacement bus service was operating between South Gosforth, Longbenton and Four Lane Ends this afternoon, which continued into the early evening peak-time period.

I only saw one of the replacement buses; it was a rather good-looking, modern TGM vehicle! I don't know the reg or make but I've seen this bus a few times at Four Lane Ends on a morning where it sometimes operates the Scholars 115 which it shares with Arriva. Kind of looks like an Optare double-decker like an Olympus or something.

First time in over three weeks I decided to catch the 55 instead of the Metro, and then I miss the chance of travelling on that beast of a vehicle; gutted isn't the word! On Facebook, Tyne and Wear Metro claim that there were six buses operating despite someone claiming to have only seen one, and then say that buses should be running at a 15 minute frequency. I wouldn't have thought South Gosforth - Longbenton - Four Lane Ends would require as great as six buses to run at a 15 minute frequency!

Anyway, news article here - http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/52174

edit - looks like the replacement bus service is operating all the way to Shiremoor! - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-eas...z2HOlE1P7F

Probably Volvo B9TL LJ58GCF which is a tri-axle decker with Optare Olympus body?

Cheers I think it is!

I thought I'd seen a photo very recently!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgrahamm/8273747541/ (Daniel Graham)

(08 Jan 2013, 7:59 pm)tyresmoke wrote

(08 Jan 2013, 7:52 pm)Brandon wrote I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that £9 bit! :s

A replacement bus service was operating between South Gosforth, Longbenton and Four Lane Ends this afternoon, which continued into the early evening peak-time period.

I only saw one of the replacement buses; it was a rather good-looking, modern TGM vehicle! I don't know the reg or make but I've seen this bus a few times at Four Lane Ends on a morning where it sometimes operates the Scholars 115 which it shares with Arriva. Kind of looks like an Optare double-decker like an Olympus or something.

First time in over three weeks I decided to catch the 55 instead of the Metro, and then I miss the chance of travelling on that beast of a vehicle; gutted isn't the word! On Facebook, Tyne and Wear Metro claim that there were six buses operating despite someone claiming to have only seen one, and then say that buses should be running at a 15 minute frequency. I wouldn't have thought South Gosforth - Longbenton - Four Lane Ends would require as great as six buses to run at a 15 minute frequency!

Anyway, news article here - http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/52174

edit - looks like the replacement bus service is operating all the way to Shiremoor! - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-eas...z2HOlE1P7F

Probably Volvo B9TL LJ58GCF which is a tri-axle decker with Optare Olympus body?

Gutting if it was, it looks immense from the exterior... Could only be even better on the inside!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielgrahamm/8273747541/

Cheers Dan! Looks like we both posted a link to your photo at pretty much the same time

If I see this bus laying over at Four Lane Ends on a morning before its Scholars run and I have time, I'll try to ask the driver if I'd be allowed inside for a few photos. I can't seem to find any interior photos on Flickr. 9 times out of 10 though it's an Arriva Volvo in United livery running the 115, but that particular TGM bus does sneak out occasionally!

(08 Jan 2013, 8:32 pm)Brandon wrote Cheers Dan! Looks like we both posted a link to your photo at pretty much the same time

If I see this bus laying over at Four Lane Ends on a morning before its Scholars run and I have time, I'll try to ask the driver if I'd be allowed inside for a few photos. I can't seem to find any interior photos on Flickr. 9 times out of 10 though it's an Arriva Volvo in United livery running the 115, but that particular TGM bus does sneak out occasionally!

:L Recognised the reg straight away and thought "I've gotta pic of that!"
Ooh, do try! I'll be rather envious indeed if you do manage. Whenever I've seen it, it's always been jam-packed with students!

Quite a bit of disruption this morning, particularly on the Sunderland line. Apparently there was a points failure near Brockley Whins.

I nearly got off the bus at the Wheatsheaf and walked down to St Peters instead because the bus was running a few minutes late, but I'm glad I chanced it and stayed on till Sunderland where I would have been warmer. Arrived for the 06:14 metro, announcement guy reckons it would be four minutes late - fair do's I suppose. A few minutes later that became 8 minutes late, then 20 minutes late. It ended up arriving almost 25 minutes late.

We ended up having a 15 minute wait at Seaburn, and another 15-20 minute wait at East Boldon. At East Boldon, an announcement on the station platform announced that all trains are suspended Pelaw-South Hylton and no bus replacement service would be operating. I very nearly got off the metro then to call a taxi, and a few people actually did. 30 seconds later or so, the driver announces that the train would be able to continue to Pelaw in a few minutes. I appreciate that the ice and cold weather causes disruption, but it's the conflicting announcements that I think could be improved upon.

It's the same at Sunderland; the guy bends over backwards giving very regular updates and apologising profusely for delays to the 06:20 Northern Rail service to Hartlepool, and a ridiculous amount of updates on the 06:10 Tyne and Wear Metro service to South Hylton, but there were only three updates for the 06:14 Tyne and Wear Metro service to Airport. I've never even anyone waiting for the 06:10 service to South Hylton before.

Nexus apparently only subsidise the Northern Rail service between Newcastle and Sunderland. So I don't understand why they always give updates on the 06:10 service from Sunderland to Hartlepool but never any updates at all for the 06:45 Grand Central service to London. And that's not just today either.

Ended up at work an hour later than I wanted to, so had to put in that hour at the end of the day which I wasn't very happy about. Hopefully it'll not happen again!

I'll write an email to Nexus asking about these announcements. I just feel sorry for the people who listened to the advice that all trains had been suspended and then left, only for the driver to announce almost immediately after that we'd be moving soon. Driver was fabulous though; I can't thank him enough for keeping us informed throughout.

I had heard on the radio this morning that all Metros were suspended from Pelaw to South Hylton - and that was at around 07:30am!
I wondered why, as I don't believe a reason was given on-air.

Last month (around the 21st or so), I remember that all the Metros were really bad then. The announcement system said that the next Metro to Airport was actually delayed by 40 minutes, and that multiple Metros to South Hylton were arriving all at the same time, so they'd have to use both stations on either side.
It was a chaotic mess, and there were no staff supervising the station at all. After a further 30 minutes or so of several people listening to the announcements and others getting on board the Metros that had arrived at Platform 3 (or 2 - whichever it is Airport-bound) and a complaint made to the Northern Rail staff upstairs by a few people, ONE member of staff who wasn't a part of Nexus' team came downstairs and said that the announcements were wrong, and those Metros on the platform we were on are going to Airport, and not South Hylton as the announcements had been saying.

I was reaaaaaally annoyed that day - as was the woman who was there for over an hour with me.

That sounds like a nightmare!

It was only until very recently where I got used to which trains run from each of the four platforms, so having Metros arriving on both sides would have totally confused me not too long ago!

I think the announcements need to enunciate a bit better too. First day in my job I heard the Metro was delayed by 15 minutes which I didn't think was too bad; turns out it was 50 minutes instead, had to get a taxi and was still late!

A 'Behind the scenes' film looks at escalator replacement project, in a new article on Nexus' website.

http://www.nexus.org.uk/news/2012/behind...nt-project

Cheers for posting that link! I had no idea so much work was involved with escalator replacements. I didn't know that when there are no passengers on-board that they run at a slower speed to conserve energy. I always wondered why the Sunderland escalator begins to make more noise as soon as someone steps on, so I guess that's why.

(20 Jan 2013, 1:52 pm)Brandon wrote Cheers for posting that link! I had no idea so much work was involved with escalator replacements. I didn't know that when there are no passengers on-board that they run at a slower speed to conserve energy. I always wondered why the Sunderland escalator begins to make more noise as soon as someone steps on, so I guess that's why.

I had wondered why too! I've only noticed it on early Sunday mornings when Sunderland train station is rather depleted and so you can hear every slight movement.
It happened today too, in fact! There was a train guy wandering around and he got on the escalator and it'd started making a louder noise. I was like 'Ahh, now I know why!' Haha.

Metro replacement service 900 operated by GNE was quite quiet today - I found myself being the only passenger on the upper deck of the bus quite frequently!

Vehicles operating it today were:
Chester-le-Street based 3887 (NK51 UCP)
Stanley based 6012 (V312 LGC)
Washington based 6001 (NK11 BGZ)
Deptford based 6018 (V218 LGC)
Chester-le-Street based 3889 (NK51 UCS)

Think that was all of 'em!

Haven't had an update on here for quite a while, but here we go... To kick us back off again, an article on Nexus' website was published earlier today.

The Tyne and Wear Metro is to benefit from a £23 million funding boost, Local Transport Minister Norman Baker confirmed today.

The Department for Transport has confirmed that it has awarded Nexus, the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, a total of £93m which is the maximum possible funding under the 2010 Funding Agreement for renewing and upgrading the Tyne and Wear Metro for the next three years.

The funding will allow Nexus to create about 60 new jobs to deliver projects within its Metro: all change modernisation programme – as well as sustaining hundreds more among engineering and transport contractors.

Local Transport Minister Norman Baker said: “This is a major programme of renewal of the metro infrastructure and will bring real benefits to the people and economy of the North East.

“The money gives Nexus the certainty to plan ahead and deliver the best outcomes for metro users.

"The Department for Transport is determined to support the North East of England in its efforts to deliver better transport for everyone and to cut carbon emissions.”

Metro is Britain’s busiest light rail network outside London, used by 38 million passengers every year.

The funding announced today will allow Nexus to deliver key projects between 2013 and 2016 which include:

· Renewing tracks and trackbeds from Tynemouth to Gateshead, including the busiest section of line through Newcastle city centre.

· Completing the refurbishment of the Metro train fleet

· Continuing the refurbishment of 45 stations in total, including stations in the Newcastle, Gateshead and South Tyneside areas.

· Introducing smart travel to Metro with the Pop card, including new ticket machines technology, gate lines and validators.

· Starting the system-wide replacement of vital overhead power lines, as well as upgrading communications and signal systems.

Ken Mackay, Director of Rail and Infrastructure at Nexus, said: “We are delighted the Government has shown its commitment to Metro modernisation by confirming funding in full, including the conditional element.

“The £93 million we will receive gives us the financial security to create 60 new jobs delivering modernisation on the ground, in addition to the contracts we will offer to leading engineering and transport contractors.

“This commitment from Government is a vote of confidence in the efficient, effective inward investment we are delivering for Tyne and Wear through the Metro: all change programme.”

DfT and Nexus agreed an 11-year funding programme for Metro modernisation in February 2010, worth up to £350m, with £100m of that subject to future commitments being met. This programme was confirmed by the coalition Government when it took office in May 2010.

Today’s £23m announcement confirms the full possible amount of grant for years 4-6 of the modernisation project. The total amount confirmed is £93m over 3 years to 2015/16, which together with the required local contribution of £10m will mean investment of over £100m in the next three years.

Metro: all change is the largest renewal project on the Tyne and Wear Metro since it was opened in 1980.

It has already seen Nexus replace 18km of track and trackbeds plus associated structures, refurbish 10 stations and 20 Metrocar trains, replace lifts and escalators at key stations and introduce 225 new smart ticket machines.

To view the article itself, see the link below:
http://www.nexus.org.uk/news/2013/funding-boost-metro

Also, Metro disruptions this week are as follows:

10th February - No trains Airport to Kingston Park
Sunday 10 February until about 12.30, this is to allow for modernisation work. During the work a bus replacement service will be calling at or close to all of the affected stations. Please leave extra time for your journey. We're sorry for any inconvenience.
Bus replacement stand stopping points
Bus replacement timetable

Source: www.nexus.org.uk/metro

Old Metro ticket machine to go in a museum

06th February 2013

Nexus, which owns, manages and is modernising the Metro system, has donated one of its 30 year-old old Metro ticket machines to Tyne and Wear Musuems to keep for posterity.

The old Metro ticket Metro machines are in the process of being replaced as part of the £385m Metro all change modernisation programme.

Nexus is replacing 225 ticket machines at 60 stations. The new smart ticket machines are capable of accepting credit/debit card payments and bank notes.

Just one of the old Metro ticket machines, which first entered service when the system first opened in 1980, will be handed over to Tyne and Wear Museums to put on public display.

Almost all of the Metro stations now have new ticket machines installed and there are less than ten stations left to get the new technology.

Director General of Nexus, Bernard Garner, said: “The old Metro ticket machines have served the people of the Tyne and Wear well for the last 32 years.

“The time has come to replace them with new technology, but it is also important that one of the old ticket machines is kept for posterity and I’m thrilled to be able to hand one over to Tyne and Wear Museums for public display.”

John Clayson, Keeper of Science and Industry for Tyne and Wear Museums, said: “These ticket machines are now part of the region’s heritage - millions of people have used them to travel for work, shopping and nights out.

“I’m sure the old machine will bring a smile to many people’s faces in future years - we all remember the struggle for change when arriving in a hurry at a Metro Station. The new machines are much more convenient. We can’t display the machine immediately, but we will keep it safely until there is an opportunity to show Metro’s heritage, and meantime it will be seen on tours ‘behind the scenes’.

The old Metro ticket machines were manufactured in France by a company called Crouzet. They print the Metro tickets using a built-in dot matrix style printing system.

The new smart ticket machines have been manufactured in Germany by a company called Scheidt and Bachmann. They boast touch screen technology and can handle smart card payments and can display in seven different languages to assist international visitors.

The remainder of the old Metro ticket machines are to be scrapped.

Source: http://www.nexus.org.uk/news/2013/old-me...-go-museum

Timetable changes have been advertised on the Nexus website which are effective from 22nd February 2013.

Some train times and routes between Pelaw, South Gosforth, Regent Centre and Benton are being revised to provide a more efficient service.

To view the changes, see the document on the link below:
http://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/nexus.org....202013.pdf

Source: www.nexus.org.uk/metro

___________________________________________________

Metro disruptions this weekend:

16th February - Major Line Closure Byker to North Shields
For six days, starting Saturday 16 to Thursday 21 February. To allow for track and bridge replacement work. During the line closure a frequent bus replacement will call at or close to all stations in the affected area. Metro tickets can be bought on the bus. Please leave extra time for your journey. We're sorry for an inconvenience.
Bus replacement timetable, Sat 16 Feb
Bus replacement timetable, Sun 17 Feb
Bus replacement timetable Mon 18 Feb - Thurs 21 Feb
Bus replacement stopping points

Source: www.nexus.org.uk/metro

Cheers for that Dan! I'll get the complete timetable edited and re-posted with the revised times before the 22nd. I'll also upload in PDF format, as well as Excel.

(14 Feb 2013, 11:39 pm)Brandon wrote Cheers for that Dan! I'll get the complete timetable edited and re-posted with the revised times before the 22nd. I'll also upload in PDF format, as well as Excel.

I did pity you when I read '1 timetable change' - wasn't sure how big the changes were going to be! :L

(14 Feb 2013, 11:41 pm)Daniel wrote

(14 Feb 2013, 11:39 pm)Brandon wrote Cheers for that Dan! I'll get the complete timetable edited and re-posted with the revised times before the 22nd. I'll also upload in PDF format, as well as Excel.

I did pity you when I read '1 timetable change' - wasn't sure how big the changes were going to be! :L

It's alright I'm just pleased that they've mentioned which trips are changing - rather than the 9 December changes where they just said that a new timetable would be coming into operation with no specific details - so like go away and check them yourself sort of thing!

Below are the links to the revised Tyne and Wear Metro timetable effective from Friday 22 February 2013. There are minor changes to some train times and routes between Pelaw, South Gosforth, Regent Centre and Benton - which are being revised to provide a more efficient service.

Monday to Friday - To Airport & St James

Monday to Friday - To South Hylton & South Shields

Saturday - To Airport & St James

Saturday - To South Hylton & South Shields

Sunday - To Airport & St James

Sunday - To South Hylton & South Shields

I'll also include the complete Excel document, so it can be customised to how you like it such as additional Northern Rail stations, different colours etc. I've purposely kept it basic to keep the file size as small as possible to ease downloading. The layout of the Excel document seems to work best to convert to the PDF layouts I've linked to above.

Complete Tyne and Wear Metro Timetable

---

I have done rather a lot of random "station checks" to ensure that all times are correct, and everything has checked out so far. But I am only human and if you spot a mistake, please do get in touch and I'll be more than happy to correct it and re-post. I would recommend double-checking the Nexus timetable for your station before travel just to be sure.

Remember that train times will change on Public Holidays. Check with Nexus and/or Northern Rail for travel advice on these dates.

Thanks for that Brandon, rather swift and very helpful to everyone who wants this format of timetable.


In other news, the first day of the six-day Byker-North Shields closure commenced yesterday. It was operated by Go North East. Some of the vehicles which were used are below, with the appropriate hyperlinks given:
- Gateshead-based 3966 - [this is one to look at, read the description] (danielgrahamm)
- Gateshead-based 3975 (danielgrahamm)
- Winlaton-based 3970 (danielgrahamm)
- Winlaton-based 6025 (danielgrahamm)
- Deptford-based 6020 (danielgrahamm)
- Washington-based 6013 (danielgrahamm)

Owing to a line closure between South Gosforth and Kingston Park to allow for modernisation work, until about 12:30pm on Sunday 24th February, Arriva North East operated a bus replacement service on behalf of Nexus to cover for the usual Metros that had been affected.

Photos can be seen below:

7459 (danielgrahamm)
7459 (danielgrahamm)
7462 (danielgrahamm)
7463 (danielgrahamm)
7607 (danielgrahamm)



In other news, there were severe disruptions to all services today. Many screens at stations said, "Delays to services. Metro apologise". This was likely due to a staff shortage today (see attachment) and also a train failure. Said train failure occurred at South Gosforth station. As a result, it had to wait to be taken away. This then caused delays to the services behind the signals prior to arriving at this station. When I got off at South Gosforth (after arriving 14 minutes late), there was a backlog of two separate Metros behind the one I'd just gotten off. The driver's initial reasoning for the Metro being stuck at a red signal was because the Metro infront was on the green light, and due to the line closure as mentioned above, the Metro had to navigate its way from one side of the Metro track to the other... Five minutes later though, he did say that it was due to the train failure.

Metro encourages passengers to join the transport revolution

Passengers on the Tyne and Wear Metro were today treated to a rainbow coloured revolutionary display, as the countdown to the transport revolution begins with the roll out of the new Metro Pop card to all MetroSaver customers.

A group of Pop revolutionaries, complete with placards and props, came together to demonstrate an exciting new era of smartcard s which will make it easier and more convenient for passengers to use public transport around the region.

- See more at: http://www.nexus.org.uk/news/2013/metro-...uHQJe.dpuf

Disruptions occurring later this week:

2nd March - No trains South Gosforth to Northumberland Park
All day Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 March, to allow for modernisation work. A bus replacement service will run between South Gosforth and Northumberland Park. During the work only platform 2 will be in use at Northumberland Park and Shiremoor. Trains may not run to usual timetable during the work, so please leave extra time for your journey. There will be a 15 minute train frequency between St James and Northumberland Park on Saturday 2 March.

Bus replacement stopping points
Bus replacement timetable Saturday 2 March
Bus replacement timetable Sunday 3 March

Me thinks it's an Arriva one again!

Final update for today - all in separate posts so it's easier to read!

Students get new Metro smartcard

Students at Newcastle University will soon be able to use their campus smart card to travel around the city on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The pilot scheme launched today between the North East Smart Ticketing Initiative (NESTI) and the University will eventually reach up to 20,000 students, when it is fully rolled out.

- See more at: http://www.nexus.org.uk/news/2013/studen...CuLD6.dpuf

(28 Feb 2013, 9:56 pm)Daniel wrote Disruptions occurring later this week:

2nd March - No trains South Gosforth to Northumberland Park
All day Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 March, to allow for modernisation work. A bus replacement service will run between South Gosforth and Northumberland Park. During the work only platform 2 will be in use at Northumberland Park and Shiremoor. Trains may not run to usual timetable during the work, so please leave extra time for your journey. There will be a 15 minute train frequency between St James and Northumberland Park on Saturday 2 March.

Bus replacement stopping points
Bus replacement timetable Saturday 2 March
Bus replacement timetable Sunday 3 March

Me thinks it's an Arriva one again!

Registered on VOSA today by Arriva

I'd still love to know why Tyne and Wear operators register Metro replacement work - surely, as it's rail replacement work, they needn't? After all, that's classed as private and work and need not be registered...

(01 Mar 2013, 4:18 pm)Daniel wrote I'd still love to know why Tyne and Wear operators register Metro replacement work - surely, as it's rail replacement work, they needn't? After all, that's classed as private and work and need not be registered...

Because they issue Metro Tickets and take fares, they have to be registered with VOSA. Normal Rail Replacement runs don't take fares or issue tickets.