New fare plans aim to make it simpler to buy a ticket

Under the proposals, station to station fares will be replaced by three zones, with flat rate fares dependent on how many zones are being travelled through.

The operator, Nexus, said 6% of journeys would be more expensive, but a quarter would be cheaper, and 68.6% would remain at the same price.

If approved, the new system will come into effect on 7 August.

Andy Bairstow, Nexus's commercial director, said: "At the moment there are 3,300 individual station to station fares, so you don't know what change you need to buy a ticket.

Regular complaints

"We regularly get complaints from people saying the system is complicated, that they don't know which button to press, or what ticket to buy.

"So we are simplifying it down to three zones, with peak and off-peak tickets.

"The only people who will pay more are those travelling for one stop and not many people do that."

The plans are subject to the approval of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority.

Councillor David Wood, the chairman said: "The objective at the start of this was to ensure the new zones system is revenue neutral, i.e. Nexus don't earn any more money as a result.

"It's an exercise to make it easier to understand and access Metro which we hope both current and potential customers will applaud."