THE VISION of the future of public transport in the North-East will be unveiled today.

Members of the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority will be presented for the first time with a virtual reality vision of proposals for a tram-based public transport system linked to the existing Metro.

Nexus trams will provide high-quality public transport in areas not currently served by the Metro.

They will link directly to the Metro system, transferring on to the same track and using the same stations and platforms, offering passengers a seamless transition between tram and Metro.

A preliminary feasibility study has confirmed that there are no overriding technical obstacles to the principle of sharing the track network.

Much work still remains to be carried out, including a series of studies and wide-ranging consultations, and liaison with various public and private sector partners.

The proposal is a first in Britain, although limited examples of the scheme exist in Europe, particularly in The Netherlands.

The move comes on the back of the Government's announcement in July of a £180bn, ten-year investment in transport which highlighted the Nexus concept for a new breed of tram.

Nexus director general Mike Parker said: "The potential for the dual use of track is phenomenal. It is a matter of developing the technology to use track running in more congested areas, and streets running in less congested areas.

"This will offer Metro standards of quality throughout areas not currently served by Metro."