Vintage Metro tickets found on ebay
Collector clinches sale of early and rare tickets to ride. Tony Henderson reports.
Rare Metro tickets bought the night before the network had opened to the public have been discovered on eBay.
The nine tickets were issued on Sunday August 10 1980 - the eve of Metro’s first day of service and are now considered to be part of the region’s railway heritage.
Metro operator Nexus said that not many will have survived. They were bought by local public transport enthusiast Ian Chapman, who collects Metro memorabilia, with his collection including over 40,000 used Metro tickets.
Ian discovered the survivors in a large batch of tickets that he bought on eBay for £22 from sellers in the Isle of Wight and Hertfordshire.
He said: “It’s not often that you see Metro tickets that were sold before the network was opened. I’m thrilled to have found some.
“Back in August 1980, a lot of transport enthusiasts will have gone to the Metro stations the night before the opening to try and get the very first ticket.
“The ticket machines back then were analogue, so they will have printed the previous day’s date on them up to around 2am.
“The first section of Metro between Haymarket and Tynemouth was opened at 5am on August 11, 1980. The French-made Metro ticket machines from that time period used the old Edmondson style rail tickets printed on thin strips of yellow card.
“I saw a batch of them on eBay and I decided to buy them. When l looked at them more closely, I noticed that nine were printed the day before the opening, which is a quirk, and not something all that common.
Two of them were issued at Monkseaton, one at Cullercoats, and the other three at Tynemouth.
“For rail enthusiasts there is great fondness for these old-style tickets. Not only because they are from the opening of Metro, but because they are the heritage style tickets that were phased out on the national railways in 1990, but were in use on Metro up to 2013.
“The Holy Grail for all collectors is to find the very first ever Tyne and Wear Metro ticket, number 000001. It will hopefully be out there somewhere. I’ll keep looking. I’ve got a passion for Metro memorabilia.”
Lynne Dickinson, station delivery manager at Nexus, said: “Metro tickets from the day before the system opened are rare. The ticket machines were switched on in the days leading up to the opening, but most people will more than likely have bought tickets on the actual day Metro began operating.
“The old-style Metro tickets are a real keepsake for enthusiasts and collectors. They’re a small part of Metro’s identity as part of everyday life in our region for 46 years.”
The old yellow Metro tickets were the standard paper tickets issued by the automatic coin operated ticket machines when the system was launched.
These durable tickets, often costing as little as 6p for a child fare in the early 1980s, were used until the transition to modern, smart ticketing and improved ticket machines in 2013.
The Edmondson ticket was a type of traditional railway ticket that was widely used on railways in Britain and many other countries from the mid 19th century until the late 20th century.
The ticket is named after Thomas Edmondson, an English stationmaster who introduced the system in 1838. His innovation helped standardise ticketing across the rapidly expanding railway network.
Artwork from the Metro’s new train fleet is being showcased at Gateshead’s Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
Blazing Trails, by artist Sofia Barton, is a striking feature on board the new Metro trains – and the work has now gone on display at Baltic’s latest Shop2 takeover exhibition.
The pop-up shop takeover, which runs until September 27, celebrates the North East’s “hidden” heritage and community leaders, and includes the work from Barton’s ‘Trailblazers’ mural on Metro.
Sofia is an artist from Newcastle whose work is inspired by nature and heritage.
Metro operator Nexus commissioned the work for the new Metro trains in 2021. There are four different commissions permanently displayed inside the 46 new Metro carriages.
It was part of a collaboration by Nexus and train manufacturer Stadler, with funding from Arts Council England through its National Lottery Project Grants programme.
Sofia said: “It’s surreal and fantastic to have my artwork from the new Metro trains on display at Baltic.
“When I was asked by the team at Baltic to be part of the pop-up shop exhibition I thought it would be great to put my Blazing Trails work into that space. It’s got that connection to the hidden heritage of the North East and to the Metro – where people see this artwork on board the new trains every day.”
Cathy Massarella, managing director of Nexus, said: “All four pieces that we commissioned for the new trains are a striking feature when you get on board, capturing what it means to live in the North East.
“Nexus has a long tradition in commissioning public and community art across our stations, but this project was the first in Metro’s 46-year history that we have commissioned major works on board the trains.”