Tyne and Wear Metro tickets will increase by up to 13.9%

The Metro system has been hit by financial difficulties since the beginning of the pandemic

Ticket prices on the Tyne and Wear Metro will rise by up to 13.9% after councillors approved the move.

The transport network said the changes were to "meet the challenge" of higher running costs.

Critics said the price rise was "insulting" to passengers, but councillor John McElroy said "we have to balance the books".

Operator Nexus said the higher fares, which will come in from 1 April, would generate about £1.2m annually.

The plans were approved on Thursday at a North East Joint Transport Committee meeting.

Nexus bosses had found it "harder than ever" to balance attempts to make the Metro affordable with the need to pay the bills, services director Huw Lewis said.

North Tyneside's deputy mayor Carl Johnson said "astonishing" inflation levels meant there was no choice but to increase ticket prices.

Metro and Shields Ferry fare changes as of 1 April

• The cost of a single journey paper Metro ticket will go up from £2.30 to £2.60 for one zone, from £3.20 to £3.60 for two zones, and from £3.90 to £4.30 for three zones;

• The cost of a one zone adult day ticket will go up from £3.60 to £4.10, a two zone day ticket is up from £4.70 to £5.20, an all-zone day ticket is up from £5.70 to £6.20.

• Equivalent tickets purchased using a Pop Pay As You Go smartcard will stay frozen at 2021 levels, as will fares on the 19-21 Pop card and Pop Blue;

• The one zone weekly Metro season ticket is up from £11.80 to £12.20; a two zone weekly is up from £17.60 to £18; an all zone weekly is up from £24 to £24.40;

• The one zone four-week Metro season ticket is up from £41.90 to £46.50; the two zone from £61.50 to £68.20; an all zone four weekly is up from £81.30 to £90.20.

• The price of the one zone annual Metro season ticket is up from £462.50 to £513.30; the two-zone annual is up from £646 to £717; the all zone annual is up from £715 to £793.60.

• The Metro Gold Card, which gives pensioners and people with disabilities unlimited off-peak Metro travel, will remain frozen in price at £12 - or £24 for those not resident in Tyne and Wear. 

• A single ticket on the Shields Ferry is going up from £2.10 to £2.30; a ferry day ticket is going up from £3.40 to £3.70; a child ferry single is up from 80p to 90p. 

• Pop Pay As You Go fares for the ferry will be frozen at current prices. 

• A one-week ticket for the Shields Ferry will go up from £11 to £11.30; a four-week ferry ticket is up from £38.20 to £42.40.

Urging more people to make use of Pop cards, Mr Lewis said that there was "no reason why many, if not most, passengers should pay a single penny more next year".

"Metro is a public service that doesn't make a profit, so we require government support alongside the revenue that we get from fares, all of which goes back into keeping the network running," he said.