Tyne and Wear Metro

Tyne and Wear Metro
Info
Owner	Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (Nexus)
Locale	Tyne and Wear
Transit type	Light rail [1] Rapid transit
Number of lines	2
Number of stations	60
Headquarters	Station Road Gosforth Newcastle upon Tyne
Website	www.nexus.org.uk/metro
Operation
Began operation	11 August 1980; 44 years ago (1980-08-11)
Operator(s)	Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (Nexus)
Number of vehicles	87 Tyne and Wear Metrocars
Train length	27.81 m (91 ft 3 in)
Technical
System length	77.5 km (48.2 mi)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	1,500 Volt DC overhead lines
Top speed	80 km/h (50 mph)

Tyne and Wear Metro is a rapid transit system in Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland.

It opened in stages from August 1980 and now has 60 stations, with two lines covering 77.5 km (48.2 mi) of track. It was mostly made from converted former railway lines linked with some new tunnels.

1. ↑ The Highway Engineer, Volume 23. Institution of Highway Engineers. 1976. p. 44. Retrieved 21 March 2023.