Secrets of the Tyne & Wear Metro 

Those 60p teas are what kept me going through school every day- Dave is a great metro shop man

Fun Fact (well maybe for Geoff). Sometime in the late 80's early 90's when I was early teens I got appendicitis. in the bed next to me was a kid with a horribly broken arm and an utterly knackered hip. He had tried to jump the barrier and slipped. His ticket wasn't working and he wanted to exit the platform and go home. Back then a ticket was 5p for under sixteens - or it may have been during the '5 rider' era after they put tickets up to 25p, but for a £1 you could buy five, though I digress. This was the kid that got all the barriers removed. Basically the courts ruled that if you didn't have a manned barrier you couldn't dis-allow exit from the system. As manning the majority of the none central stations was just not a viable option, they removed all the barriers.

Geoff is the kinda person not to be afraid to put his hands all over the rim of a public recycling and refuse bin

As a Geordie im dead confused as to why I'm watching this. But cheers for bringing all the Geordies together

8:03 Geoff is getting a little too friendly with those bins!

Proud to say i rode on the very first Metro from Regent Centre to Haymarket in 1980, aged 7. It was a 'special' run for local families, you had to be invited. And I used to get the Metro to school every day from Ilford Road... the lack of a footbridge really used to p**s me off when i was late for school!

The "M" tiles on the platform floors in the city centre stations line up with the doors when the train stops - a handy little trick to always stand in the right place for the door.

I'm really surprised you didn't mention anything about Monument, it's easily one of the most interesting purpose built stations. My favourite fact is that the giant red circular structure in the ticket hall is actually the support for Grey's monument above, and not just decoration!

Biggest secret is how they manage to keep running while on fire, but breaks down as soon as you look at it too hard

Fun Fact: Newcastle's Yellow Line is one of three in the world with a pretzel-shaped design, in which a route crosses over itself and trains pass through the same station twice. The others are in Bulgaria (Sofia) and the Netherlands (Zoetermeer). Honorable mention to Vancouver's SkyTrain, which had a pretzel line until October 2016.

You made it to North Shields and lived to tell the tale.

Spent in Newcastle 6 months for my university exchange. The entire region is quite delightful. Seaside stations (e.g. Tynemouth) were among the most beautiful I have ever seen anywhere in the world

As a child of the North East who came across Geoff's channel whilst preparing to move to London (watching the Secrets of the Underground series), I feel like I've come full circle.

SO many places to go to once we are all allowed out.

Fascinating collection of architectural and engineering styles across the ages. Looks like the trains have an enclosed half-cab at the ends.

4:54 "that prime seat took us to north shields" *loud seagull noises* yup that's about right

What a video! - Metro was the first train system in the UK where the signs for train drivers measured in metric km/h not mph - There's also a modern metal sculpture at street level at Monument just that is actually a ventilation shaft for Monument station

02:36 the straight line on the left leads to Manors station. This is used by drivers travelling to/from the depot to begin/end their journey at Manors (otherwise it would be a long trip around the coast). It is also the reason why the first train from Newcastle starts at Manors and not St James, and why the last train to Newcastle terminates at Manors.

6:05 A 15 STOREY BUILDING GEOFF?

Just awakened a load of memories from when I was a kid and going to Newcastle as a kid with my Gran trying to get to the seat at front of the metro every time

Love this!

When you spell the captions out you get M-E-T-R-O. Well done Geoff

I've lived in Newcastle all my life and I've had my fare share of complaints towards metro but I can honestly say with this documentary coming to life I have never been more proud thanks Geoff

Thank you Geoff. I love it when you come up north and cover our railways.

Geoff, I love your narrated history videos!!! Please keep the awesome videos coming!!!

Great video as always Geoff...and in this case very nostalgic as I spent many hours as a kid and teenager riding the Metro. On the point of Manors rail station being so small now...it once boasted 9 platforms and was actually two merged stations in a sort of triangular layout. Still remember it being demolished...sad times!!

I really enjoyed this video. I have seen several of your videos and will say this is my favorite for now. Thanks!

There's a little museum near the tyne tunnel and the new metro depot called the Stephenson railway museum, it's built along the original metro test track and they still run steam locomotives along it!

Tynemouth has one of the very few original NER tile maps still in situ. A beautiful station.

It’s a lot better now than it was in the 1970s. I can vaguely remember travelling on the North Tyneside Loop on a third rail electric set, not long before they were scrapped in the ‘60s. Another slightly weird bit of personal history is that my parents got to know each other when stuck on board due to service failures on account of snow/ice loss of power in the late ‘40s. Typical commuting to/from work problems, but it was good for me in the longer term!

Thank you for showing this. It brings back good memories when I lived in the Sunderland and Newcastle area between 1981-1989.

‪Ah that was brilliant! Geoff, My love of underground trains brought me to your youtube channel and now its come full circle seeing you riding the system that got me interested in the London Underground and in my homeland, loved it!‬ Your video’s inspired me to go home (i live in Yorkshire now) in February just before i turned 30 and ride the whole system, all 60 station, i had a great day!

Missed a perfect opportunity to call it metty mysteries

Thanks @Geoff. Love it. Shout out to Newcastle

I know a lot of people were waiting for this, the wait was definitely worth it. Very interesting info. Love this Secrets series

Beautiful video!!! Everyone loves this Metro....

Great video and so much information in a short duration. The little signal box at Felling is really the original Brandling Railway's Felling Station completed in 1843 and replaced by a larger island platform station in 1896, possibly when the line was quadrupled.

This keeps me going during lock down Geoff. Can't travel abroad to see beautiful systems like this but this is the next best thing. Great video 👍

Hi Geoff, I live beside the next station from where you started at Bank Foot, when the metro opened up we had to go up to Bank Foot for a Metro into Newcastle. After a few years we managed to get our own station which is Kingston Park. Thank you for showing the country how lucky we are having this system. You even showed a lot of features that even I did not know about. When I was on the sick after having a heart attack a few years ago, I took it upon myself to go through every Metro station, yes all 60 of them. It was a very enjoyable experience.

I used to use the T&W Metro when I went to Sunderland University which was mainly to and from Sunderland Railway station which I must admit looking at this was a short journey but a great one at that. The info you have given is really something of interested to me. Well Done and Thank You.

I used to be taken on day trips with my childminder where all we did was ride the metro and the ferry. Exciting times!

That was an excellent trip around the Metro. You did the system justice in just a few minutes.

Enjoyed the rail trip today Geoff! Thanks!

I loved riding this when I visited for a Sunderland-Newcastle game in 2011 - and, yes, I used St. Peter's rather than the Stadium of Light station on my way because it was closer. I'd love to go back and see those seaside stations!

Ilford Road has no bridge because it was designed to allow people to keep going in the same direction (north or south) but change between the lines. The platforms of Ilford Road also perfectly cross the 55th line of latitude.

I live in an old station house on the Sunderland section. A lot of features are still here. Also in the garden, there is a bunker with a secret entrance although blocked off. There are a few other railway features from Pre NER days.

I was unreasonably happy to see this pop up in my recommendeds. Time to watch it!

As someone who lived in Newcastle while at uni I actually found this video really interesting. No idea how it got in my recommended since I’m not a train enthusiast at all but well done to the youtube algorithm and thank you for putting this together. Miss living on tyneside.

The Metro is allowed to have open crossings because the trains aren't very heavy (they could stop quickly in an emergency & wouldn't do much damage). One of the problems with the old suburban rail network that the metro replaced at the end of the 1970s was the expense of maintenance, so to reduce maintenance costs they decided to buy new rolling stock that was really light. You can notice how light it is by the noise it makes when going over Sunderland bridge.

Great stuff, Geoff. Two cities divide by football but joined by a train line. Enjoyed the history of the line.

I’m so pleased you did this!

Why was that so enjoyable - an overview of some random rail system on a different continent from me? I love the esthetics of this region, the modern & the rustic & the countryside, all together. Especially that old green Willington Dene viaduct - wow!

Another interesting episode Geoff; they've been shouting for this one for ages.👍 I was surprised you didn't include the Metro at Central station, being the biggest on the Metro network. Also worth a visit at Central, but *upstairs* in the main station, is the "Refreshment Room". It's certainly not 60p for tea but the ceiling alone is well worth the visit. I think the word would be "elegance". Cheers for now, Dougie.

I’m from Newcastle. Thanks for posting this extremely good ‘secrets’ for this. I’ve been a fan for a long time since I’m a train geek. Geoff, keep up the good work. Edit : “ My local station is Longbenton.”

At 7:35 - that signalbox! Brilliant videography and editing. And some gorgeous old station features.

A very enjoyable and informative video. Thanks Geoff very much.

As far as I know, this system is the only railway left in the UK electrified at 1500 VDC Overhead. There used to be many miles of this in the North East, North London, and the Trans Pennine route through Woodhead. The next highest DC voltage I knew of was the 1200 VDC side contact third rail system between Manchester Victoria and Bury, which survived right up to the 1990s until replaced by Metrolink.

Ah! The memories! I always used to try and get the seat right at the front. Especially cool if you’re underground.

Thanks, that was helpful for someone visiting. Gives a good feel for the metro and area.

My dad is delighting himself with this video, he remembers most of these places from his university days!

@Geoff Marshall , there is also old, unused ticket barriers at Four lane ends metro station

I loved watching this, though I haven’t lived near there in years. I still find it annoying that Washington, Chester-Le-street and Durham aren’t linked up to the regions Metro. So many bad decisions made ripping out railways in the past that would be useful now.

Comme toujours, une vidéo passionnante, concrète et avec des stats !. J'irai un jour visiter ce réseau métropolitain à Newcastle

I'm from the north east and have used the metro system extensively, thank you for making this video

what a lovely colour scheme and great looking trains. I wish we had a neat metro system like that in my town!

A couple bonus facts: - Metrocar 4081 still features the old pre-refurb announcements - All trains are formed of 2 semi-permanently coupled metrocars. Metrocars can no longer run as single cars because the B cab was left unrefurbished (drivers dont like that) and the windscreen is made of glass instead of whatever they use now. - The Metro is entirely in metric, and I believe it was the first railway in the UK to be in metric. -Despite partly running on Network Rail track, Metrocars do not feature AWS.

My prayers have been answered thank you for this treat

Terrific. It's great to cover different parts of the country.

I drove one of the trains on the test track many years ago before the service started!

I’ve ridden on the metro tones of times my nearest metro station was a rail station but converted and you passed my hometown en route to South Shields

Excellent! Wonderfully done as always.

Geoff Marshall - I love watching your vids with my breakfast in the morning. Thank you! :-D

Honestly being stuck inside right now I’ve actually missed getting on the metro so it’s lovely to see it and my local station wallsend :)

I didn't even know this metro existed! Everyday you learn something new :p

Great video. Made me nostalgic for wheni lived there a quarter of a century ago. Took me right back!

This takes me back. I studied at University of Sunderland 2002-2005 and used the Metro almost every day. Shame I haven't been back since. Will try to do some once things get back to normal. Thanks for triggering some 15+ year memories!

Never been to Tyne and Wear but still find this interesting! Have you ever thought of doing videos about foreign metro lines? Having lived there, I'd love to hear more about the eccentricities of the Paris and Madrid metros. I always found it amazing how high the ceilings are in some of the Madrid metro stations compared to London and Paris!

I always wondered where the football ground was when passing through stadium of light station! A good tip if you’re in the wider region is to buy an Explorer ticket, valid on buses throughout the north east and the Tyne and Wear metro. Come down from Berwick or up from Scarborough on the bus and have a ride round the metro, all for the price of one ticket 👍

Another superb film. Well done. Great cultural history. Thanks.

This has made my day. Pure nostalgia for my childhood with summer trips to Whitley bay 😍

I really enjoyed this video. Thank you very much.

Spent a lot of time on the Metro in 2015-16! Surprised you didn't mention the Byker viaduct over the Ouseburn or the plans to build a pub in Monument station (and IIRC, its one of the only Metros where a line loops over itself... Toronto might be another one, not sure). Nonetheless, still a great video, and glad you highlighted some of the network's best features!

This was a great production, well done !.

Going to be so useful when my wife and I visit in June. Thanks!!

Secrets of the Nottingham Express Transit trams: It started in 2004 with 2 routes originally both starting at Station Street which was built above Nottingham Station and was named after a road that run parallel to the platforms and tracks. One finished at Hucknall and the other at Phoenix Park and Ride After the Phase 2 extension which also bring a bunch of new Bombardier trams extended both routes,the Hucknall one ending at Toton Lane which has a massive car park,possibly the largest on the network,and the Phoenix Park and Ride goes to Clifton south(they arent the route names as they dont really have names) With this extension brought a new station for Nottingham train station which the tram stop was called Nottingham Station,which in turn made Station Street the only abandoned station on the network and also still has it's original southbound access point and both its platforms Forest Green would have the most platforms at 3 as 1 is used for southbound services,1 for northbound and the middle platform 2 is used as a terminating platform for either north or south bound services if there is any disruption anywhere on the network The most platforms is Highbury Vale Every other station has 2 platforms except for 1 which is Cinderhill which only has 1 but isnt much of a deal as it's close to the end of its branch at Phoenix On the Totan Lane branch you cant actually see where the track goes on Google Maps for whatever reason Omnibusses used to go around on parts of the network around Old Markt Square and Royal Centre but this was completely dug up and can be seen as a normal paved road with no tracks until the NET was done Lenton Road is the only stop in the city where there are island platforms on a road as the other stations with this are on none embedded rails that run alongside the trains heading northbound Beeston Interchange is literally a tram and bus interchange After Bulwell it becomes 1 track and then back into 2 when arriving at the station and every station after that creating the following stations up to Hucknall,island platform stops:Bulwell,Bulwell Forest,Moor Bridge and Butlers Hill,Hucknall wouldnt ge included in that as it has 2 separate platforms one of which is joint up with the train station which only has 1 platform Highbury Vale is the 9nly stop where it serves both libes separately as in the tracks are separated and go and use the satellite view in Google Maps to see In the Parliament Street depot of the Nottingham City Transport bus operator there are clear tram tracks that are in the depot area The highest tram stop is Queens Medical Centre which for the southbound platform you have to go to the other side of the A52 walk up the stairs or use the lift and walk over the bridge which looks spectacular at night Also there is actually another abandoned station you go to the bridge at Western Boulevard and look south as there are 2 platforms that still exist from a station that possibly didnt even open as on a map of the original 2 routes from Station Street and the 2 branches to Hucknall and Phoenix in 2008,if you look on the map between Basford and Wilkinson Street,there is a larger gap between the two stops than the gap between the stops around them

44 steps at Wallsend station. Isn’t that the equivalent of 15 stories?

I liked using this from the airport out to Tynemouth Abbey - spectacular! - and admiring the old Victorian architecture, and then to Wall's End where I was staying. It was nice and easy to use, just like the Glasgow Metro!

Watched this several times, absolutely love it. Almost had a mini "nerd-gasm" watching this in a geography lesson today. Thanks a lot Geoff, for creating this word -- in the meantime, I'll try to think of a more family/school-friendly term...

Next video: Secrets of Corrour station oh wait.

Fun Fact: The Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields uses part of the Metro test track that was used to test the original units on 👍

Finally!!! Thank you Geoff!

Excellent video!! The Tyne & Wear Metro looks really cool. Will be nice to ride it when I get to visit Newcastle!

4:39: Geoff's childhood ambitions realised

When you can go outside, please do the Sheffield tram network!

Great video. Thanks.

what a great little video. kudos

Bonus fact - Ilford Road station is built exactly on the 55°N line of latitude.

Fun Fact: You can also see the old barriers at Four Lane Ends Station!

Fantastic video - I use the Metro regularly and I learned a lot!

Finally whoop. This brings me all the local feels x