TRAIN doors on a light rail network are to be painted bright yellow, to help partially-sighted passengers.

Bosses at Nexus, which operates the Tyne and Wear network, yesterday unveiled a £54,000, five-year scheme to make public transport more accessible for the vision-impaired.

The doors of every train will be painted yellow to help passengers pick them out. At present, the doors are coloured the same red as the rest of the carriage.

Malcolm Postigo, public transport expert at the Newcastle Disability Forum, said: "I very much welcome the concept of this scheme, which will go a long way to address the needs of vision impaired public transport users.

"The contrast between the doors and the body of the train will be a great improvement and a real aid to vision impaired people.

"Measures like this can encourage vision impaired people who currently don't use the Metro to do so."

Nexus development director Bernard Garner said: "The idea to paint Metro train doors came out of our regular meetings with user groups, including the Newcastle Disability Forum, who are backing the idea.

"We believe it will go a long way towards meeting the needs of vision impaired passengers and help to broaden access."