By Eoin, 17.

Since the opening of the Metro, it then expanded to Newcastle International Airport in 1991 and into Sunderland in 2002, bringing the metro to the extent it is at today. It is now almost a quarter of a century since the metro was extended to Sunderland, bringing its impact beyond just the area around Newcastle but solidifying it as a central part of transit in the North East of England. 

The Metro has also had a large cultural impact on the North East, with the 2011 musical “The Tyne and Wear Metro – the Musical” and the 2025 play, “Dogs on the Metro.” 

The Metro is an essential part of local infrastructure, connecting approximately 37 million passengers a year with where they want to be. In 2025, the Metro celebrated its 45th year in service and saw the introduction of the new Metro Cars finally being brought into passenger service after many delays. 

The Metro has brought great benefits to the region, from quicker travel to the ease of finding a job just a bit further away and being able to meet up with friends who are not within walking distance. The Metro also reduces the region’s dependence on the much more polluting car. 

How the metro helps us all, from my perspective 

In my personal experience, I know the Metro has massively helped people around me get to Sixth Form and back, giving them the chance to get the best education possible which will benefit our local area in the future. The Metro has also helped so many commuters around me get to where they need to go, making my daily life better with them carrying out the jobs they do.  

The metro has also been massively beneficial for large scale events, back a few years ago when there was the Sunderland Airshow, instead of sitting in a traffic jam I could go and get on the Metro and arrive just where the event was without my family having to deal with event parking.  

When there was the Sam Fender concert at St James’ Park, a large amount of the audience went to see it via Metro reducing the strain on the roads through Newcastle City Centre. The car parks filled up much quicker due to the sheer size of a single car in comparison to a seat on the Metro.  

In the final part of the series we will look at the new trains and the future of the network.

Photos by @Ephotographyncl

This was created by young people as part of the Headliners Young Journalist programme. This project was made possible by the Million Hours Fund.