Metro, Ferry or concessionary fares face being cut if more funding not found

Regional leaders could be forced to cut transport services if they are not prepared to hand over more funding.
Public transport finances have taken a pounding during the pandemicPublic transport finances have taken a pounding during the pandemic
Public transport finances have taken a pounding during the pandemic

Planners at travel operator Nexus are predicting they will finish next year (2021/22) £3.7million short under their best case scenario.

But if circumstances take them in the opposite direction they could be facing a shortfall worth almost 10 times that, which could leave bosses facing tough decisions.

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“We all recognise we’re in a difficult situation, the question is whether we allow the situation to continue indefinitely,” said Newcastle City Councillor Greg Stone.

“I’m not particularly keen on the idea of proposing various cuts to services, concessionary fares, Metro or the ferry.”

He added: “If they rule out increasing [funding], they are de facto going down the cuts route.

“I think we have to ask them to review their position on that and at least consider whether a modest increase in the levy would help mitigate these cuts.”

Cllr Stone was speaking at a meeting of the North East Joint Transport Committee’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

Losses on the Tyne and Wear Metro peaked at £900,000 every week at the height of the national coronavirus lockdown, a figure which has since fallen to about £500,000.

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Passengers, which at one point slumped to just five per cent of their pre-COVID total, have bounced back to about half.

Government funding to prop up Metro services, now into its fourth tranche of handouts, has been extended into January, but the support deals for ‘light rail’ services stands in contrast to more open-ended agreements with bus operators, who have not been given a funding end point.

Cllr Stone suggested North East council leaders should be asked to consider increasing the Tyne and Wear Levy, which funds transport provision, in the hope of staving off service cuts.

Currently about a fifth of the £59million levy supports bus travel, with roughly two thirds funding concessionary transport.

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Paul Darby, deputy chief finance officer at the North East Combined Authority (NECA), said: “There’s significant uncertainty over when coronavirus will end, how and when patronage on the Metro [and public transport] will return to more like pre-COVID levels to get back to a more sustainable, balanced position.

“To have a sustainable position which isn’t reliant on government grants, it needs to return to broadly pre-COVID levels and even if it does return to pre-COVID levels we still have challenges within the Nexus budget.”

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