Last Friday a number of us went up to the North East for the day for a trip on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Our day started at around 07.00 when Searle met district and me in one of the McDonalds near Kings + station for breakfast. At 07.29 we entered the station via the York Way entrance. We saw the Grand Central HST on platform 1 and luckily some of the gates were set to enter so we didn't have to walk all the way around.
As soon as we passed through the gates the train was announced as ready for boarding, but unsurprisingly there were already some people on board. I walked right up to the front to find a declassified First class coach. As we got settled down Searle wandered off to take a few photos of the train and I had a call from matt enquiring about our location, so he came and joined us.
We had quite a bit of time before departure, and the train's driver had a bit of a chat with us, saying that he had not seen any 'bashers' in quite a while, commenting that it wasn't really surprising since they got rid of the Valentas! District and I both commented how this was our first trip on Grand Central, and district said he only needed to travel with Hull Trains and he would have travelled on all companies. The driver said not to bother as they only have rubbish 180s!
We departed on time and had a fairly good run up North. district told me that the buffet car was rather cheap so I went to check it out. It wasn't /that/ cheap but I bought a tea anyway, and someone else attempted to buy a flapjack but it was the guard serving and she didn't know the prices, so had to ask the buffet attendant anyway!
Ended up stopping on one of the through roads at Doncaster for a few seconds and arrived at York on time, stopping in platform three which we all found amusing as have only ever been on a Southbound train from this platform.
The train is booked to spend the best part of 15 Min in the platform at York, and as usual yorkie left it until the last minute before turning up! We were wondering if he would make the train. 3 Min before departure we saw him locking up his bike and he sauntered over, joining us at one of our two tables in the declassified coach.
Just before Thirsk the Guard came along to check any more tickets and told anyone wanting to alight to move towards the rear of the train. We were right at the front and the door was alongside a normal bit of the platform so not sure what that was about.
At Northallerton we passed two steam engines with a normal car in between before branching off towards the coast. ainsworth74 joined at Eaglescliff, having arrived off a Northern Rail service about 10 Min before.
Had a bit of a slow run up to Sunderland, stopping at a few signals along the way for no apparent reason. North of Hartlepool I commented on the number of "random" horses alongside the line. Those sat on the other side of the train enquired why I thought they were random until it was revealed that I was looking out over an urban sprawl and thought horses being on a grass patch surrounded by tarmac and brick houses whereas those on the other side had countryside and the coast!
On arrival at Sunderland a few minutes late we set off in search of food, and went to the Greggs opposite the minor station entrance. After a dispute and much confusion over the terms of the 'Meal deal' we returned to the station to buy our Metro tickets for the day. I found the £4.40 ticket on the machine but wondered if a group ticket existed, so we walked to the main entrance to ask staff. They told us there wasn't, but also that they don't sell tickets that can be bought from the machines! We had a similar experience on the Metro trip some forum members did in Summer 2010 which I thought was a bit poor, but off we went to use the machine.
Our initial plan was to head towards South Hylton first but on arrival on the platform there was no signage at the point we entered the platform to advise which trains went where. After departure we realised we were on a Northbound train, so at the first stop I checked the dot matrix indicator to see when the next Southbound train was. In the end we decided to get off at Stadium of Light and cross back. We sat at the rear of the train to ensure we had the ''good'' seats looking out of the front for the return journey to the Airport.
Discussion along the way involved questions such as why the cab is only half width, and then once we pulled off the Network Rail lines utter bamboozlement about the signalling. I just don't get it! Some signals which we wondered if they were repeaters did not seem to be. At points one signal was yellow but the one after it (which was also visible) was green. If anyone can explain how on earth the signalling works on the Metro we'd appreciate it!
When we got to the Airport we alighted for a bit and took note of the recently installed, but not yet operational, ticket gates. We went into the terminal to use the facilities and saw some of the shortest escalators I've ever seen, which I took great delight in going up and then down! We had a laugh about the Metro's "zero tolerance" policy on photography as Searle and district both chanced a snap of the train just before departure.
At the Airport we had a look at the Metro network map and realised that a lot of the stations either share the same name, or have very similar names to other stations on the National Rail and other UK rail networks. St James' became St James's Park, Callerton Parkway became Coleshill Parkway, Howdon became Howden, Brockley Whins simply Brockley and Chichester, University and Northumberland Park remained unchanged.
The return journey saw us travel to Monument where we were going to change for a yellow line service. After making our way downstairs we were shocked by the 11 Min wait for a service to St James' so headed over to the other platform, intending to do the St James' section later. There was no information on the dot matrix indicator so district used the help point who said there was a 9 Min wait, so we headed back over to the original platform.
We then went one stop to St James' and then did the entire loop line all the way to South Shields via "the Coast," continuing our earlier discussion about signalling as well as the unusual terminology of where the train was described as going via. On arrival at South Shields we had a quick dash across the centre because we only had 12 Min to catch the ferry. We got a bit disrupted via a demolition site stopping the signposted and most obvious route, and combined with a pavement closure we had a bit of a detour, but eventually made it. Boarding the ferry was the first time that day we had our tickets inspected.
After waiting around for the free shuttle bus to North Shields station for over 30 Min last time we had a meet, I advised everyone that we should just walk, unless the bus was there. Fortunately on arrival it was, but was locked up with passengers on board whilst the driver popped to the loo. When we got back someone asked the driver if this was the free bus, to which he replied ''it is if you've got a valid ticket or travel pass.'' (Aren't all buses free if you have a valid ticket or travel pass?) Nonetheless, he was happy with our Metro, train and ferry only ticket.
Having taken a random detour around a car park to serve a bus stop next to a derelict building, the bus eventually struggled up the hill to the main shopping street. It wasn't obvious actually where the station was from here, we had to ask a local for directions. District stopped off at a rare unrefurbished McDonalds to take some photos, and we made it to the station where the Metro's revenue department were checking tickets with the local police. Our tickets were checked three times on three successive journeys!
Discussing the (what I considered to be) odd tactics of their Inspectors who were waiting on the other platform, we boarded a train to Howdon (not to be confused with Howden) where we headed south to have a walk through the Tyne Foot & Cycle tunnel, which is due to close shortly for refurbishment. The original wooden escalators, dating from the 1950s, were still in place and we had a walk down the escalator, after having looked at the signs. The lights were broken in places and it went a bit dark. There was nobody around and we felt a bit like urban explorers, or that someone was about to come out and shout at us!
Reading up on the tunnel's history it's not exactly clear why it's there. There's nothing really there on the north side and the south side is a few houses. It's a good (~15 Min) walk to the stations at each end. I guess there was more industry around when it was originally built. Despite the ancient and uncared for feel of the tunnel (it is about to close for refurbishment) the lift was brand new!
When we got to Jarrow station we carried on back into central Newcastle for dinner where we met bb21 and IanXC. As they had only just arrived they had no Metro tickets so we set out for a race back to Central, from Monument. As soon as we got to the platform and saw we had a 6 Min wait we knew they'd beaten us!
All in all, a very good day and we had a good few laughs, especially about the amusing station names, the signalling and Metro's strict anti photography policy.
Our day started at around 07.00 when Searle met district and me in one of the McDonalds near Kings + station for breakfast. At 07.29 we entered the station via the York Way entrance. We saw the Grand Central HST on platform 1 and luckily some of the gates were set to enter so we didn't have to walk all the way around.
As soon as we passed through the gates the train was announced as ready for boarding, but unsurprisingly there were already some people on board. I walked right up to the front to find a declassified First class coach. As we got settled down Searle wandered off to take a few photos of the train and I had a call from matt enquiring about our location, so he came and joined us.
We had quite a bit of time before departure, and the train's driver had a bit of a chat with us, saying that he had not seen any 'bashers' in quite a while, commenting that it wasn't really surprising since they got rid of the Valentas! District and I both commented how this was our first trip on Grand Central, and district said he only needed to travel with Hull Trains and he would have travelled on all companies. The driver said not to bother as they only have rubbish 180s!
We departed on time and had a fairly good run up North. district told me that the buffet car was rather cheap so I went to check it out. It wasn't /that/ cheap but I bought a tea anyway, and someone else attempted to buy a flapjack but it was the guard serving and she didn't know the prices, so had to ask the buffet attendant anyway!
Ended up stopping on one of the through roads at Doncaster for a few seconds and arrived at York on time, stopping in platform three which we all found amusing as have only ever been on a Southbound train from this platform.
The train is booked to spend the best part of 15 Min in the platform at York, and as usual yorkie left it until the last minute before turning up! We were wondering if he would make the train. 3 Min before departure we saw him locking up his bike and he sauntered over, joining us at one of our two tables in the declassified coach.
Just before Thirsk the Guard came along to check any more tickets and told anyone wanting to alight to move towards the rear of the train. We were right at the front and the door was alongside a normal bit of the platform so not sure what that was about.
At Northallerton we passed two steam engines with a normal car in between before branching off towards the coast. ainsworth74 joined at Eaglescliff, having arrived off a Northern Rail service about 10 Min before.
Had a bit of a slow run up to Sunderland, stopping at a few signals along the way for no apparent reason. North of Hartlepool I commented on the number of "random" horses alongside the line. Those sat on the other side of the train enquired why I thought they were random until it was revealed that I was looking out over an urban sprawl and thought horses being on a grass patch surrounded by tarmac and brick houses whereas those on the other side had countryside and the coast!
On arrival at Sunderland a few minutes late we set off in search of food, and went to the Greggs opposite the minor station entrance. After a dispute and much confusion over the terms of the 'Meal deal' we returned to the station to buy our Metro tickets for the day. I found the £4.40 ticket on the machine but wondered if a group ticket existed, so we walked to the main entrance to ask staff. They told us there wasn't, but also that they don't sell tickets that can be bought from the machines! We had a similar experience on the Metro trip some forum members did in Summer 2010 which I thought was a bit poor, but off we went to use the machine.
Our initial plan was to head towards South Hylton first but on arrival on the platform there was no signage at the point we entered the platform to advise which trains went where. After departure we realised we were on a Northbound train, so at the first stop I checked the dot matrix indicator to see when the next Southbound train was. In the end we decided to get off at Stadium of Light and cross back. We sat at the rear of the train to ensure we had the ''good'' seats looking out of the front for the return journey to the Airport.
Discussion along the way involved questions such as why the cab is only half width, and then once we pulled off the Network Rail lines utter bamboozlement about the signalling. I just don't get it! Some signals which we wondered if they were repeaters did not seem to be. At points one signal was yellow but the one after it (which was also visible) was green. If anyone can explain how on earth the signalling works on the Metro we'd appreciate it!
When we got to the Airport we alighted for a bit and took note of the recently installed, but not yet operational, ticket gates. We went into the terminal to use the facilities and saw some of the shortest escalators I've ever seen, which I took great delight in going up and then down! We had a laugh about the Metro's "zero tolerance" policy on photography as Searle and district both chanced a snap of the train just before departure.
At the Airport we had a look at the Metro network map and realised that a lot of the stations either share the same name, or have very similar names to other stations on the National Rail and other UK rail networks. St James' became St James's Park, Callerton Parkway became Coleshill Parkway, Howdon became Howden, Brockley Whins simply Brockley and Chichester, University and Northumberland Park remained unchanged.
The return journey saw us travel to Monument where we were going to change for a yellow line service. After making our way downstairs we were shocked by the 11 Min wait for a service to St James' so headed over to the other platform, intending to do the St James' section later. There was no information on the dot matrix indicator so district used the help point who said there was a 9 Min wait, so we headed back over to the original platform.
We then went one stop to St James' and then did the entire loop line all the way to South Shields via "the Coast," continuing our earlier discussion about signalling as well as the unusual terminology of where the train was described as going via. On arrival at South Shields we had a quick dash across the centre because we only had 12 Min to catch the ferry. We got a bit disrupted via a demolition site stopping the signposted and most obvious route, and combined with a pavement closure we had a bit of a detour, but eventually made it. Boarding the ferry was the first time that day we had our tickets inspected.
After waiting around for the free shuttle bus to North Shields station for over 30 Min last time we had a meet, I advised everyone that we should just walk, unless the bus was there. Fortunately on arrival it was, but was locked up with passengers on board whilst the driver popped to the loo. When we got back someone asked the driver if this was the free bus, to which he replied ''it is if you've got a valid ticket or travel pass.'' (Aren't all buses free if you have a valid ticket or travel pass?) Nonetheless, he was happy with our Metro, train and ferry only ticket.
Having taken a random detour around a car park to serve a bus stop next to a derelict building, the bus eventually struggled up the hill to the main shopping street. It wasn't obvious actually where the station was from here, we had to ask a local for directions. District stopped off at a rare unrefurbished McDonalds to take some photos, and we made it to the station where the Metro's revenue department were checking tickets with the local police. Our tickets were checked three times on three successive journeys!
Discussing the (what I considered to be) odd tactics of their Inspectors who were waiting on the other platform, we boarded a train to Howdon (not to be confused with Howden) where we headed south to have a walk through the Tyne Foot & Cycle tunnel, which is due to close shortly for refurbishment. The original wooden escalators, dating from the 1950s, were still in place and we had a walk down the escalator, after having looked at the signs. The lights were broken in places and it went a bit dark. There was nobody around and we felt a bit like urban explorers, or that someone was about to come out and shout at us!
Reading up on the tunnel's history it's not exactly clear why it's there. There's nothing really there on the north side and the south side is a few houses. It's a good (~15 Min) walk to the stations at each end. I guess there was more industry around when it was originally built. Despite the ancient and uncared for feel of the tunnel (it is about to close for refurbishment) the lift was brand new!
When we got to Jarrow station we carried on back into central Newcastle for dinner where we met bb21 and IanXC. As they had only just arrived they had no Metro tickets so we set out for a race back to Central, from Monument. As soon as we got to the platform and saw we had a 6 Min wait we knew they'd beaten us!
All in all, a very good day and we had a good few laughs, especially about the amusing station names, the signalling and Metro's strict anti photography policy.
