THE METRO’S HIDDEN LUNGS

The Tyne and Wear Metro system gets thousands of people around the North East to their destinations every day, but the system is far more complex than a typical user could imagine on their commute to work. Did you know that if the metro was not ventilated, the blast of air that accompanies the metro to the platform would likely be strong enough to knock you off your feet? 

To avoid this, the metro network is fitted with a system of vent shafts all over the city. Acting as the essential lungs of the metro, they allow the system to ‘breathe’, evading that build up of air pressure.  

Over the years, Nexus have found interesting ways to disguise these vent shafts. For instance, on Blackett Street, you will find ‘Parson’s Polygon’, a listed artwork by Leeds-born ceramic artist David Hamilton. Made from terracotta bricks, the piece is a tribute to Sir Charles Parsons, inventor of the steam turbine. Another vent shaft sits within a hollowed-out Georgian house on Old Eldon Square. You might notice it next time you pass, its vent grates usually occupied by a gang of pigeons spying for scraps.  

The ventilation shaft you see here is the one on Prudhoe Street, between the Haymarket and Monument metros. Inside, it looks very much like a vast tunnel to nowhere from a science fiction book, but it serves a vital function for us metro users every day.