Its that time of year when confirmation is given of fare changes from the new year and the latest light rail system to announce their fares is the Tyne and Wear Metro. Anyone who uses a Pop Pay as you Go smartcard will see their fares frozen but single, day and season tickets will see what is being described as a “modest increase”.
Metro single and Metro Day tickets will increase by 10p across the board with one zone singles rising to £1.90, two zone singles up to £2.80 and an all zone single will be £3.50. Meanwhile, a one zone adult Day ticket will be £3.10, the two zone version will be £4.20 with an all zone Day ticket being £5.20.
But for anyone travelling using the Pop Pay as you Go smartcard there is good news as fares will be frozen. This means that anyone who is using this smartcard their fares will not have increased since 2012, which in the current climate is certainly something to congratulate Nexus over.
Tobyn Hughes, Nexus Managing Director, said: “We are introducing a balanced package of Metro fares in 2019, one which helps us to deliver some savings for customers while also meeting Metro’s running costs. Anyone who switches to a Pay As You Go Pop card will not see the cost of their Metro travel go up next year. Other fares will go up in line with the rate of inflation. Metro is a public service that doesn’t make a profit and gets a Government subsidy to keep it running. We need to raise some fares so that we can continue to meet our operational costs. Metro fares will remain some of the lowest in the country, and still offer excellent value for money.”
* Further details of the new fares can be found on the Nexus website.