Covid: Tyne and Wear Metro to receive £13m final support payment

Nexus said the Metro "continues to face the biggest challenge in its history"

The Tyne and Wear Metro has been given "the final tranche of Covid-related financial support" to help with difficulties caused by the pandemic.

The £13.1m pay-out will help cover the funding shortfall caused by low passenger numbers until April 2022.

Transport Minister Baroness Charlotte Vere said it would allow services to run "as normal" in the coming months.

Nexus, which operates the network, described it as "really welcome", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The firm's chief finance officer John Fenwick said Nexus had "recently seen customer numbers on Metro return to between 60% and 70% of pre-pandemic levels". 

"The funding will go towards meeting our operating costs, ensuring that Metro... is sustained while it continues to face the biggest challenge in its history, " he added.

A previous round of Department for Transport (DfT) funding was due to run out on 19 July, leaving the network facing weekly losses of about £300,000, which could have seen it having to reduce services.

The DfT said the funding for the Metro, and a number of other rail operators, was "the final tranche of Covid-related financial support to be given to the sector".  

Baroness Vere said it will "allow operators to keep running these vital services as normal in those initial months as restrictions are lifted and passengers begin to return in higher numbers".