A new and easy way to pay for travel on the Tyne and Wear Metro by the under 16s has been launched by Nexus. The Junior blue smartcard can be bought and topped up online meaning passengers won’t have to carry cash or use ticket machines when travelling.
Junior blue cards are free but must be purchased with a £10 balance on the card and this can be done at http://www.nexus.org.uk/Junior-blue. Journeys will be priced the same as commercial single and day tickets available to 5 to 15 year olds via ticket machines.
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said: “Launching Junior blue for under 16s means we now offer cash-free smart card travel for everyone, no matter what their age. We know parents want an easy cash-free way to pay for their children’s Metro travel, so we sped up the development and launch of Junior blue due to the pandemic. With Junior blue parents can get a free smart card online and keep it topped up – so they never have to worry about their children having the right change or using ticket machines. Travel on Metro is already great value for young people, with commercial single trips for just 90p and £1.40 to travel all day. Junior blue is a really simple pay-as-you-go card, which our young passengers can use as often as they like, to get to school or go out with family or friends outside of school time. Passengers just need to tap through the station gates or validators, and remember to top the card up online, taking away the need to use the ticket machines.”
There will be a daily price cap using the card and cheaper child concessionary fares will be available from ticket machines for Tyne and Wear residents with a Nexus under 16 identity card.
The Junior blue card can also be used on the cross-Tyne Shields ferry and on local buses (no daily cap is available on the buses).