A Sunderland MP has welcomed a pause on rail price increases due to proposed boundary changes at Seaburn Metro Station.
MP for Sunderland Central, Julie Elliott, was quick to try and intervene when Nexus proposed a boundary change for Seaburn Metro station, which would have seen ticket prices for regular users surge.
The proposal from the transport provider would have seen Seaburn change to Zone C of the Metro system - meaning that while it would be cheaper to travel to Sunderland, it would be marginally more expensive to travel to Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Seaburn Metro station currently borders both Zones B and C while central Newcastle is classed as Zone A.
So a day pass to Newcastle from Seaburn costs travellers £4.40, however, if Seaburn was moved solely to Zone C, the charge would hike up to £5.40.
The price rise prompted MP Elliott to act swiftly, and intervene on the charges that would affect her constituents travelling north of the Tyne.
Speaking to Chronicle Live, Member of Parliament for Sunderland Central, Julie Elliott, said: "The changes that would have been made would have been unacceptable, there's no reason for people who use Seaburn Metro to be paying higher fares than they are now."
She added: "My view is that they've got to come back with proposals that are cost neutral to my constituents - which will probably mean realigning boundaries within a field or something.
"But that is where we need to get to, the boundaries do need to be realigned but not at the expense of my constituents - because that's a very heavily used Metro station."
Customer Service Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, also added: “We want to bring in cheaper smart tickets which local people can use to travel on any public transport in Sunderland and beyond, like the London Oyster card.
“Part of doing this would mean making sure fare zones on bus and Metro match in future, and that’s why we had suggested changing the Metro zone boundary.
“Julie Elliott, the local MP, highlighted the impact this would have on people in Seaburn and as a result we have agreed not to take forward the change, so we can review our plans for smart ticketing to make sure these benefit everyone in the communities we serve. "
And although MP Elliott did speak of the positives that a proposed boundary alignment would have on local commuters in the area, she refused to see her constituents suffer monetarily through Seaburn station seeing a price rise.
MP Elliott said: "I agree with what they're trying to do to align boundaries between buses and Metro - so we can have a system similar to the Oyster card, but moving the boundary there wasn't acceptable."
The MP continued: "Bizarrely we didn't have this problem before 1986 - before we had an integrated transport system and the Tory Government then got rid of that.
"However, the problem is bus zones don't marry and don't reflect Metro zones, so somewhere they have to be brought into lines.
"You have to have a consistent zoning system across all types of public transport in order to bring in an Oyster type system.
"That needs to be done by talking to people who live in the areas, consulting with people like myself who understand the area, and finding a solution which does not impact on my constituents in a negative way."
Liberal Democrats in Sunderland had also previously urged Nexus to rethink the change, claiming that Seaburn passengers were being treated as a “cash cow”.
Malcolm Bond, who is a Lib Dem campaigner for Fulwell and Seaburn, said: "Pausing the decision on changing the fare zone boundary at Seaburn Station is welcome.
"Transport bosses must now listen to local people and scrap their proposal that would see people travelling from our part of Sunderland into Newcastle having to pay more to travel through an extra fare zone.
"Moving the zone boundary would be a real kick in the teeth for Fulwell and Seaburn folk who have had to put up with a terrible service, regular delays and cancellations and months where we didn't have a working lift at the station.
The proposed plans were withdrawn from consideration by Nexus on January 7 - but Councillors on the North East Combined Authority's Transport Committee did however agree to raise ticket prices on the Metro from April 2022 during their meeting on January 14.
The changes to Metro fares from April will mean:
- Single paper ticket prices will rise by 20p – making a one-zone ticket £2.30, a two-zone single £3.20, and an all-zone single £3.90.
- Paper daysaver tickets will increase by 30p – making the new prices £3.60 for one zone, £4.70 for two zones, and £5.70 for three zones.
- Equivalent tickets purchased using a Pop Pay As You Go smartcard will be frozen at 2021 levels, as will the 19-21 Pop card, and corporate season tickets bought through a scheme run with employers.
- The one-zone weekly Metro Season Ticket is up from £11.50 to £11.80; a two-zone weekly is up from £17.20 to £17.60; an all-zone weekly is up from £23.30 to £24.
- The one-zone four-week Metro Season Ticket is up from £40.70 to £41.90; the two-zone from to £59.80 to £61.50; an all zone from £79.10 to £81.30
- The price of the one-zone annual Metro Season Ticket is up from £450 to £462.50; the two-zone annual is up from £628.50 to £646; the all-zone is up from £695 to £715.
- 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 £1.90 to £2.10 and a Ferry day ticket is going up from £3.10 to £3.40, though prices are again frozen for people with a PAYG card.
- A one-week ticket for the Shields Ferry will go up from £10.70 to £11; a four-week ferry ticket is up from £37.60 to £38.20.
