Network's youngest-ever driver now set to retire

THE man who became the Tyne and Wear Metro's youngest-ever train driver is set to retire after 46 years.

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> Phil Taylor, who holds the record as the youngest ever Tyne and Wear Metro train driver, is now set to retire after 46 years

Phil Taylor was just 19 when he started driving on the Metro when it opened in August 1980.

He remains the youngest man to have joined Metro train crew, and began working on the system at a time when everything was new, including the same trains which are now being phased out and replaced by the Stadler fleet.

Phil, 65, worked as a Metro driver for 14 years, before going on to play a key role training the next generation of drivers.

He then became a Metro operations manager, before taking his most recent role based in the control room as a service delivery controller.

Phil, of Bank Foot, Newcastle, fondly recalled what it was like to work on the transport system at such a young age.