(20 May 2014, 6:12 pm)northern156 wrote Newcastle to Sunderland is the only bit of railway in the region that is subsidised by Nexus - which means you can use Explorer tickets on it (as well as Metro tickets in the correct zone(s))

And you have hit the nail on the head - go to Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester and you'll find the vast majority of rail services are paid for by the PTEs.

Also, those areas also have non-rail tickets as well for a cheaper price - South Yorkshire for example have the SYConnect valid on the Sheffield Supertram and Bus Services (apart from Sheffield service 505 due to the present operator or First Doncaster service 101 or night services) for £6.20 a day while the Travelmaster Gold Day ticket (covers the same as the SYConnect but with the addition of using any train that has 2 stops within South Yorkshire) is £7.50. Again, the Wayfarer someone mentioned in regards to Manchester officially is the Derbyshire Wayfarer and costs £11 for 1 day or £21 if travelling in a group of 2 adults and 2 children and can get you from Manchester to Derby or even Sheffield.