The Metro before the Metro

Discover the fascinating Tyneside electric train network which was set up over 120 years ago.

by Daniel Stoker, Assistant Documentation Officer.

The inaugural North Eastern Railway electric train service from New Bridge to Benton, 1904 (Newcastle Libraries)

With the gradual introduction of a brand-new fleet of trains on the Tyne & Wear Metro, as well as the opening of the long awaited Northumberland Line from Ashington to Newcastle, we’re experiencing a hugely significant period in the history of North East rail.

Which is fitting, considering that the region has always been at the very forefront of the railways. The first steam railway in the world to carry passengers was the Stockton and Darlington railway in 1825, on a locomotive built by Tyneside engineer George Stephenson (today known as the “Father of the Railways”).

Model of George Stephenson’s Locomotion №1 on display in Tyneside Challenge at Discovery Museum in Newcastle. In 1825, Locomotion №1 became the first steam locomotive in the world to carry passengers on a public railway (TWCMS:C4443)

The Killingworth Billy built by George Stephenson in 1816 is the world’s third-oldest surviving steam locomotive. Today Billy is on display at Stephenson Steam Railway in North Shields. (TWCMS: R10)

Much more recently, the Tyne & Wear Metro has been a constant feature of the North East since it opened in 1980. It was the UK’s first light rapid transit system, and it revolutionised the way that people were able to travel the region.

But something you might not know is that the Metro wasn’t the first electric train network in the North East. In fact, it was beaten to the punch by almost 80 years…

Early Rail

In the early days of British railways, there wasn’t any sort of national rail system. Instead, right across the UK there were lots of small and disconnected railway networks. The North East was no exception, but in 1854 the North Eastern Railway (NER) was founded. This marked a turning point, with the NER gradually incorporating more and more of the region’s competing rail networks.

Tiled map depicting the NER’s rail network c. 1900. Originally set into a wall in South Shields railway station. On display at South Shields Museum & Art Gallery (TWCMS: 1997.408)

For the first 50 years of its existence, the NER was a steam railway. But the emergence of an electric tram network on Tyneside in 1901 changed everything. The trams proved hugely popular with the public, and in turn the NER saw their own passenger numbers plummet from almost 10 million in 1901 to under six million in 1903.

Northumberland Street in Newcastle during the 1930s. Tram cars, which were first introduced to Tyneside in 1901, can be seen travelling down the street. (TWCMS: 2000.5500)

The NER needed to change things fast, and so a drastic plan was drawn up: convert the entire NER network to electricity.

Electrification

This wasn’t going to be easy, so the NER turned to Tyneside electricity pioneer Charles Merz for help. At the time Merz, (known as the “Grid King”) was helping to establish Europe’s largest integrated power grid in the North East, which would go on to be a forerunner of the National Grid.

Merz’s vast knowledge made him the perfect candidate to help the NER implement rapid change, and to reverse its quickly declining popularity. Over the course of 1904, Merz successfully led the conversion of the NER network to electricity.

The change was a great success, with electrification reducing running costs of the NER’s network by over 50%. More importantly, it also proved a hit with the public, and by 1913 passenger numbers had reached new peaks.

At the same time many of NER’s previously separate railway lines were also brought together into one continuous loop. This meant that passengers wouldn’t need to continually get off at one station and on at another. The electric loop was given a catchy new name: the Tyneside Electrics.

Tyneside Electric train at Tynemouth when brand new. (Newcastle Libraries)

A model of an NER Tyneside Electric carriage of 1904, which you can see on display at Discovery Museum’s Steam to Green exhibition until September 2026. (TWCMS: 2009.4963)

At first, the Tyneside Electrics only included North Tyneside, with large parts of the network still being steam-powered. The South Tyneside line, which ran from Newcastle to South Shields, was also electrified in 1938.

The Tyneside Electrics today

The Tyneside Electrics loop was eventually incorporated into the nationalised British Rail in the 1950s. But amidst the rising costs of the 1960s, British Rail decided to de-electrify the entire railway system, converting it to diesel trains. This didn’t help: the new diesel were actually slower and less reliable than the previous electric ones.

By this point Tyneside’s trams had also been phased out and the North East suffered from poor public transport. However, in the 1970s the newly-formed Tyneside Passenger Transport Authority (now called Nexus) came up with a solution: the Metro.

Unsurprisingly, the Tyneside Electrics was looked to as a source of inspiration and the Metro would use much of the NER’s old lines and infrastructure. The Metro eventually opened in 1980, and it ensured the continuing legacy of electric rail in the North East.

Original 1904 NER Tyneside Electric carriage No 3267 in the foreground with Tyne & Wear Metrocar 4027 painted in commemorative NER livery in the background. NER No 3267 is the only surviving Tyneside Electric vehicle and today you can see it on display at Stephenson Steam Railway. (TWCMS: R6)

If you want to find out more about the North East’s rich heritage of technological innovation, as well as some of the exciting new renewable technology being developed in the region today, you can visit the Steam to Green exhibition at Newcastle’s Discovery Museum until September 2026.