Patronage of the Shields Ferry, which operates between North Shields and South Shields, is derived from actual recording of passenger journeys recorded by the Electronic Ticket Machines on board.
A ferry service has operated between North and South Shields dating back to the 14th Century, a history of which can be found at nexus.org.uk. The current Shields Ferry fleet consists of two vessels – the ‘Pride of the Tyne’ (1993) and the ‘Spirit of the Tyne’ (2007).
Nexus operates the ferry fleet which in addition to a timetabled service also operates private hires and river trips. The busiest day for the ferries occurs on Great North Run.