Passengers travelling on the Tyne and Wear Metro are being urged to switch from paper tickets to Pop Pay As You Go to enjoy even greater discounts on their tickets following increases in other Metro fares as from 1st April 2024.
Savings of up to £1.60 per day can be enjoyed by passengers using Pop. Other Metro fares – including season tickets, singles and day tickets – have been subject to a below inflation rise to help meet the running costs of the network, including the cost of high voltage power.
There will also be more choice for those who buy their travel through their workplace. Anyone buying a Metro Corporate Season ticket can now choose the zones they want for the first time. Unlimited travel within these zones starts from as little as £10 a week, which can be paid in convenient monthly instalments deducted from their salary.
Meanwhile, the cost of Metro travel for young people aged 16-21 using the Pop Blue smartcard is to be frozen in price, along with the cost of the Metro Gold Card for pensioners and customers with disabilities.
Huw Lewis, Nexus’ Customer Services Director, said: “The best way for customers to keep saving money on the cost of Metro travel is to switch from paper tickets to Pop Pay As You Go. Discounts for PAYG customers have been improved, saving you up to £1.60 a day with a Pop card, or the same product through an Android smartphone, compared to paying at a Metro ticket machine
“Moving to Pop Pay As You Go in Google Pay, or getting a free Pop card from nexus.org.uk, which now has a minimum top up of just £5, means customers will save money. This is something that we are actively encouraging people to do, so that they enjoy the lowest possible fares on Metro, and it’s something we are promoting through high profile marketing campaigns across the Metro system.
“Other fare rises, including single and day tickets bought from ticket machines, do need to increase in order to help us meet the challenge we face with Metro’s running costs.
“Metro is a public service, one that doesn’t make a profit, so we require Government support alongside the revenue that we get from fares, all of which goes back into keeping the network running.”