The Tyne and Wear Metro has secured extra funding from the Government, which will support its services for a further six months while customer numbers continue to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, 1st March, the Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed that light rail and bus operators were to benefit from a new support package. Ministers announced a £150m, ‘final tranche' of pandemic-related support to bus and light rail operators across England, a month before existing funding was due to end. The extra funding will run for six months until October 2022.
Nexus, the public body which owns and manages Metro, said that the new round of financial support was welcome amid a gradual recovery in the number of customers journeys on the network, as more people return to work now that the latest Covid restrictions have come to an end.
The money will be used to cover Metro's running costs through to October while income from fares continues to be adversely affected by the impact of Covid-19.
Director of Finance and Resources at Nexus, John Fenwick, said: “This latest tranche of Covid-19 funding is welcome while we drive the continued but slow recovery in customer journeys on Metro.
“The Government has recognised the huge challenges the public transport industry faces if we are to be there in future to tackle the big problems of climate change and air quality. We need to understand how much Nexus, and the North East as a whole, will get through this announcement, and how that can be used to protect both bus and Metro services.
“Six months is not a long time in the context of our recovery and the pressure on our finances – and the whole industry – will probably still be there in the autumn even if it reduces as we rebuild our market.”
