Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan area covering the cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, as well as North and South Tyneside, Gateshead and Washington.
Tyne and Wear is served by public transport, including the Tyne and Wear Metro, sections of the national rail network including regional and intercity services, several city and regional bus lines, the Shields Ferry, and Newcastle International Airport.
Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, trading as Nexus, are the passenger transport executive (PTE) responsible for overseeing the public transport network within Tyne and Wear, with headquarters at Nexus House in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Rail
History The first transport in Tyne and Wear was wagonways like the Tanfield Wagonway, which moved large mineral deposits across County Durham and Northumberland to estates and river barges. The Dunston wagonway was operating from as early as 1671, and transported coal to the two rivers.K Hoole, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 4: The North East, David and Charles, Dawlish, 1965M J T Lewis, Early Wooden Railways, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1974,
Newcastle upon Tyne was an early pioneer in railway development, with the need to move large quantities of materials similar to the wagonways. The Stanhope and Tyne Railway opened in 1834, just nine years after the groundbreaking Stockton and Darlington Railway in nearby Teesside. The region quickly became a hub of intense competition, with numerous railways being constructed. The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (itself opening in 1834) finished construction of Newcastle Central Station in 1847, with the Newcastle and North Shields Railway connecting its North Shields branch to the station shortly after.William Weaver Tomlinson, The North Eastern Railway: Its Rise and Development, Andrew Reid and Company, 1915
Over the following years, a number of new railways and interconnecting networks were built across the area. This created one of the most dense railway networks in the UK, and helped accelerate the growth and urbanisation of the region. These routes included the Ponteland Railway, York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, Blyth and Tyne Railway, Riverside Branch, Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, Newcastle, Leamside & Ferryhill Railway, Hylton, Southwick & Monkwearmouth Railway, Brandling Junction Railway, Durham and Sunderland Railway, Bedale and Laybourne Railway, Newcastle and South Shields Railway, as well as a number of branch lines and combined railways. These railways were mostly created to move large amounts of goods to the Tyne Docks and Sunderland Docks to be exported onto the global market, or to transport materials to the numerous shipyards and industry along the river frontsWilliam Weaver Tomlinson, The North Eastern Railway: Its Rise and Development, Andrew Reid and Company, 1915G Whittle, The Newcastle & Carlisle Railway, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1979,
In the late 19th and early 20th century, several isolated system of trams were also established, with the Newcastle Corporation Tramways beginning service on 16th of December 1901. The trams connected city centres to quickly sprawling suburbs, and included networks such as the Tyneside Tramways & Tramroads Company, Jarrow & District Electric Tramway, South Shields Corporation Tramways, Tynemouth & District Electric Traction Company, Gateshead & District Tramways Company, Sunderland Corporation Tramways, Sunderland District Electric Tramways, and Gosforth Park Light Railway. None of the networks exist today, with them being destroyed in the 1950s as the automobile and motorway creation became increasingly popular with both the general public and local government. However, a number of the cars were bought by Beamish Museum and are run as a heritage service at their site.
As a result of the competition from the electric tramways, passenger numbers declined heavily on the existing railways. To try and recover, the Victorian rail network was electrified, consolidated, and then restructured under Tyneside Electrics in the 1910s. The consolidation of the East Coast Mainline also meant that new nonstop express services to Edinburgh, London, Durham and Middlesbrough were now available. The improved services and routes meant that passenger numbers rebounded, and created one of the largest electrified commuter networks at the time in the UK.
However, the fortunes of the railways were short lived. In the 1960s, Tyneside Electrics became fully integrated into British Rail. The group then de-electrified the network, transitioning its services to diesel-powered trains. This decision was driven by falling passenger demand, rising operational costs, and the urgent need to replace aging infrastructure and rolling stock. The Newcastle–South Shields line lost its electrification in 1963, with the north Tyneside routes following suit in 1967. Furthermore, in the late 1960s and 1970s, a lot of the railways were closed, mainly due to British deindustrialisation, and the Beeching Act paired with central governments dismissive attitude with public transport. However, a lot of these railway closures avoided total destruction and were converted to light rail service. Lines such as the Newcastle and North Shields Railway were saved, with the line closing in 1973 and partially re-opening (east of Heaton to Tynemouth) in November 1982, following the commencement of the Tyne and Wear Metro services between Tynemouth and St. James station. Other historical rail alignments are now served by the Tyne and Wear Metro and include the Stanhope and Tyne Railway, and the Ponteland Railway of the North Eastern Railway, amongst other routes. There is also talk of further restoring former lines such as the Leamside Line to both heavy rail and Metro services. The Metro while mostly utilising former rights of way, did create some new routes, especially in the city centres near Monument and Gateshead.
Tyne and Wear Metro
The Tyne and Wear Metro is a light rail network linking South Tyneside and Sunderland with Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Newcastle Airport. The network opened in stages from 11 August 1980, and now serves 60 stations and of track.
The Metro is one of only two urban rail networks in the United Kingdom (outside London), with other cities have tram networks such as Edinburgh Trams, Manchester Metrolink and Sheffield Supertram.
In 20172018, an estimated 36.4 million passenger-journeys were made on the Metro, making it the third-most-used tram and light-rail network in the United Kingdom, after London's Docklands Light Railway (121.8 million passenger-journeys) and the Manchester Metrolink (43.7 million passenger-journeys).
The Metro network currently consists of two lines:
Green Line: running from South Hylton Metro station and Sunderland Metro station to Newcastle City Centre, Regent Centre Metro station and Newcastle Airport Metro station. Yellow Line: running from South Shields Metro station to Newcastle City Centre, Whitley Bay Metro station, Wallsend Metro station and St. James.
Both lines run as frequently every 12 minutes during the day (Monday to Saturday), and every 15 minutes in the evenings and on Sundays.
This allows for a combined service of every six minutes (Monday to Saturday), and every seven to eight minutes during the evening and on Sundays between Pelaw Metro station and South Gosforth Metro station.
National Rail
, there are a total of eight rail stations located within Tyne and Wear: , , , , , , and .
Newcastle Central is a key calling point on the East Coast Main Line. The station originally opened in August 1850, as part of the then Newcastle and Carlisle Railway and York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway.
Currently, the station is served by CrossCountry, LNER, Northern, Lumo and TransPennine Express, with trains running to a range of destinations across the country.
CrossCountry run long-distance rail services connecting Scotland and the North East with the Midlands, South East and the South Coast. As of the December 2025 timetable change, service and frequency is as follows:
An hourly service heading south along the East Coast Main Line towards York, Sheffield, Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads, and Plymouth, with one train a day to Cardiff Central and one train a day to Penzance. A two-hourly service heading south along the East Coast Main Line towards York, Doncaster, Sheffield, Birmingham New Street, then to Oxford and Reading. An hourly service heading north along the East Coast Main Line towards Edinburgh Waverley, with a twice-daily early evening service continuing on to Glasgow Central. Some trains also continue to Aberdeen or Dundee.
London North Eastern Railway provide long-distance, high-speed rail services, connecting Scotland and the North East with London. As of the December 2025 timetable change, service and frequency is as follows:
Two trains per hour running north along the East Coast Main Line towards Edinburgh Waverley, with some trains continuing on to Aberdeen, Glasgow Central, Inverness or Stirling. Three trains per hour heading south along the East Coast Main Line towards York and London King's Cross.
Northern operates local rail services across the North East. As of the December 2025 timetable change, service and frequency is as follows:
An hourly service heading north along the East Coast Main Line to Morpeth, with two trains per day continuing on to Chathill. An hourly service heading south along the Durham Coast Line towards Sunderland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe, with some trains continuing on to Great Ayton. Three trains per hour heading west along the Tyne Valley Line towards Hexham, with two trains per hour continuing on to Carlisle.
TransPennine Express links the North East of England with Yorkshire, Manchester and Liverpool. As of the December 2025 timetable change, service and frequency is as follows:
A two-hourly service heading north along the East Coast Main Line towards Edinburgh Waverley. An hourly service heading south along the East Coast Main Line towards York, Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Liverpool Lime Street
Lumo also run services along the East Coast Main Line as well, with limited-stop services between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, with some services extended towards Glasgow Queen Street via Falkirk High.
Sunderland station (then Sunderland Central) station opened in August 1879, under the then North Eastern Railway. The station is now served by the Metro, with local rail services operated by Northern. The station is also served by less frequent, long-distance rail services, operated by Grand Central. LNER used to operate a once daily service but this was axed in December 2024.
Northern provide an hourly service heading south along the Durham Coast Line towards Sunderland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe (with some trains continuing on to Whitby), and an hourly service heading north to Newcastle, with trains then joining the Tyne Valley Line, continuing on towards Hexham and Carlisle.
In March 2002, following the extension of the Metro from Pelaw to Sunderland and South Hylton rail services between Sunderland and Newcastle were amended, with Heworth Interchange becoming the single intermediate station on the route between the two cities.
Former rail stations at Seaburn, East Boldon and Brockley Whins (as well as new purpose-built stations at St. Peter's, Stadium of Light and Fellgate) are now served by the Metro, with a frequency of up to five trains per hour, and a direct link to Newcastle Airport.
In January 2006, open-access operator Grand Central was granted permission to run four trains per day between Sunderland and London King's Cross via York, with services commencing in December 2007. As of April 2022, Grand Central operate five daily services along the route.