Tributes have been paid to Professor Tony Ridley, the mastermind of the Tyne and Wear Metro, who has passed away aged 92.
Prof Ridley, who was originally from Sunderland, was the main driver of the Metro project in its early years, and without his leadership it may never have come to fruition.
As a respected civil engineer, he was director general of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) from 1968 to 1975.
He was part of a team of visionary planners who devised the Metro network. He oversaw the planning process, the award of funding, and the first year of construction work in 1974.
Metro operator Nexus said it was saddened to learn of Prof Ridley’s death at the end of March – and said he had undoubtedly played a pivotal role in Metro’s success story.
Cathy Massarella, managing director of Nexus, said: “Everyone at Nexus is saddened to learn of Tony’s passing and we pay tribute to the work that he did.
“He was a pioneering engineer who made the Tyne and Wear Metro become reality. He paved the way for a system that revolutionised local public transport in North East England.
“It was Tony Ridley and his team who first came up with the idea of taking decaying rail lines and linking them using city centre tunnels and a bridge over the River Tyne. What they created is what we know as the Tyne and Wear Metro.
“His work as director general cannot be understated. He was a pioneer, who played a huge part in transforming public transport in our region.
“He famously quipped that we’d never get away with building a Metro system, but thanks to his skill and determination that is exactly what did happen.”
Prof Ridley left the Tyne and Wear PTE in 1975 to become the first managing director of the Hong Kong Metro system. He went on to manage the London Underground.
He later became president of the Institution of Civil Engineers and an Emeritus Professor at Imperial College London.
He was a pupil at Newcastle’s Royal Grammar School before going to Newcastle University, where he studied engineering,
Mike Parker, Nexus director general from 1994 to 2006, and who worked for Tony Ridley in London Underground in the late 1980s, said: “Tony was the most hard working and demanding boss I ever worked for. His enthusiasm was infectious and his contribution to public transport unrivalled.”
Image credit: Nexus
