BBC News, North East and Cumbria
BBCA group of young train enthusiasts who met by chance on the Tyne and Wear Metro have grown into a club who ride the loop together.
Dubbing themselves the Metro Bashers, their regular meet-ups see them travelling the full Metro circuit – just for the fun of it.
Every Wednesday they arrange a time and train as a meeting point and then “bash” the Metro for a few hours while chatting all things life and trains.
The BBC joined the club for a journey, where they were also greeted by veteran Metro driver John Dowry who was delighted to meet his fans.
“It’s absolutely great when they come here, they’re really nice lads,” said Mr Dowry.
“They always come and say hello, they’re polite. These are the sort of people we want on our trains.”
“The group kind of just came naturally I suppose,” said 18-year-old Tyler Miller. “You hear people talking about the thing you’re interested in and just go up them and talk about it.”
The content creator and Metro fan added: “We’re all interested in the same thing. It’s all about the Metro and we just like to ride them.”
His friend Cameron Johnston, 18, said: “It’s very cool, because it’s like a family that you just get to see and chat with about what I’m excited about.”
The initial Metro Bashers came to their hobby independently, meeting through happenstance and their shared love of the rail network.
Then they began to recommend the weekly meetings to friends.
“We all had the same passion so we just started hanging around together,” said 17-year-old Thomas Turnbull.
“What first ignited me was trips with my dad. We went to go and see my mum in uni when she was getting her masters degree and we took cross-countries up and down.
“Then we used to get the Metro back from there as well, it was amazing.”
“No day’s the same when you’re an enthusiast, there’s always something new to go and see,” said 16-year-old Henry Santangelo.
“Mainly as a coincidence, we all sat in the same place and just started talking about what we like about the trains, and what we don’t like. Then we all stayed as a big group.
“We’ve got a group chat together. Post-Covid, I found it was a great place to meet new people, even though often it was with my friends from school.”
On each journey they claim the “Bashers Coach”.
It is at the very front of the Metro train; allegedly the best spot of the lot, closest to the driver.
Adam Gray, 17, said, “As I kid I always liked riding around on the Metro, so I used to spend hours with my parents going back and forwards. And that’s just never changed, I’ve always loved the Metro.
“I’m quite happy that there’s other people who are just as interested as I am, because I didn’t know that I was going to find this many friends who did the exact same thing as me.”
Billy Bestford, 20, the oldest and longest-running Metro enthusiast of the group, said: “The first time I went on the Metro was in 2008 and I’ve just fell in love ever since.
“We meet up every Wednesday, go on the new Metro and just have a chat.
“And when the old [trains] go to scrap as well, we meet up and watch them go down.
“I’ve never felt so included with the same passion until I met this group. It’s just something to look forward to in the week.”
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