Tributes have been paid to Professor Tony Ridley, the man who masterminded the Tyne and Wear Metro, who has passed away aged 92. Professor Ridley – originally from Sunderland – was the main driver behind the project in its early years and it is widely considered that without his leadership it may never have come to fruition.
He was Director General of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) from 1968 to 1975. A civil engineer, he was part of a team of planners who devised the Metro network. He oversaw the planning process, the award of funding and the first year of construction work during 1974.
Cathy Massarella, current Managing Director of Nexus, said: “Everyone at Nexus is saddened to learn of Tony’s passing and we pay tribute to the work that he did.
“He was a pioneering engineer who made the Tyne and Wear Metro become reality. He paved the way for a system that revolutionised local public transport in North East England.
“It was Tony Ridley and his team who first came up with the idea of taking decaying rail lines and linking them using city centre tunnels and a bridge over the River Tyne. What they created is what we know as the Tyne and Wear Metro.
“His work as Director General cannot be understated. He was a pioneer, who played a huge part in transforming public transport in our region.
“He famously quipped that we’d never get away with building a Metro system, but thanks to his skill and determination that is exactly what did happen.”
After leaving Tyne and Wear PTE, Professor Ridley became the first Managing Director of the Hong Kong Metro system and later went on to manage London Underground. He also became President of the Institution of Civil Engineers and an Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London.