Missing the last Metro home will become a thing of the past for residents of North East England, after a new iPhone app was launched today (Monday 21 June).
The app, called Next Metro, shows the user when their next train is due, for all 60 stations in the Tyne and Wear Metro network. It also uses the location-aware features of the iPhone to tell a person the ten nearest stations to their location, and includes maps showing how to reach them.
Next Metro is the result of a collaboration between Gateshead-based digital agency Never Odd or Even LLP and North-East software developer Alex Reid. It follows the agency's award-nominated Ask the Hoff iPhone app, produced with TV star David Hasselhoff, and their Instant Cities range of travel guides, the most recent of which is Instant Boston.
'We travel on the Metro on a daily basis, so we know there's nothing more irritating than reaching the platform just as the train doors close,' said Paul Smith, founder of Never Odd or Even.
'The first version of Next Metro was created by Alex, so he wouldn't miss the train to work. We realised that tens of thousands of other passengers would find it useful for the same reasons, so together we created an essential iPhone app to help local commuters and visitors to Tyne and Wear.'
'Best of all, the app pays for itself the first time you don't miss the last Metro home after a night out, because it saves you paying an expensive taxi fare.'
There are also plans to release versions of Next Metro for Android mobile phones and BlackBerrys.
Over 50 million iPhones have been sold worldwide since its launch in 2007. The latest iPhone - the iPhone 4 - will be launched in the UK this Thursday (24 June).
Next Metro is available in the iTunes App Store for £1.79.
Never Odd or Even LLP is a digital agency specialising in iPhone applications and development for other mobile platforms.
Tyne and Wear Metro carries over 40 million passengers a year. The system has 60 stations with peak time trains running every three minutes through the centre of Newcastle and Gateshead. However, off-peak services at weekends means trains run at up to 15 minutes apart.
Next Metro uses live timetable information supplied by Traveline NextBuses, a service provided by a partnership of transport operators and local authorities.
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