Rush Hour Crush and famous front pages: Metro celebrates 25th birthday

From famous faces to historic front pages, join us on a look back through Metro’s 25-year history (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

By 1999, a 16-year-old Britney Spears had become an overnight success with the release of Baby One More Time, Tony Blair was steering New Labour into the Millennium and the very first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants had aired on TV.

And, in London, free morning newspaper Metro had burst on to the media scene.

The publication turns 25 years old today – part of the Gen-Z generation, no less – and celebrations are in order. Editors have included Kenny Campbell, Ted Young and Deborah Arthurs, who remains Editor-in-Chief today.

Metro has covered iconic moments in history with ground-breaking front pages. We’ve won awards for our journalism, advertising and charity campaigns.  You can find our articles in print at bus, train and tram stations up and down the UK. 

We’re also online at Metro.co.uk and across social media, with growing success on TikTok – where we have 340,000 followers and over half a billion likes and counting – and on Instagram.

A man reads Metro during the Covid-19 pandemic (Picture: Ollie Millington/Getty Images)

The way the world consumes news has changed massively since 1999 and Metro has moved with it. Now, we’re raring to take on the next 25 years.

Editor-in-chief Deborah Arthurs says: ‘It has been a privilege to be editor at Metro for the past 10 years, first of our website at Metro.co.uk, and more recently as Editor-in-Chief of both print and digital.

‘A ground-breaking product when it launched in the UK, bringing smart, digestible news to people who previously didn’t buy newspapers – “no spin, no bias” – Metro really did fill a gap in the market.

‘And it continues to do so. We are proud to work hard to produce our quality news, sport, entertainment and lifestyle content in print, digital and across our social channels, bringing it to our readers free, just as we always have.

‘A debt of gratitude goes to all the team at Metro and also to our readers, who have made us the nation’s most-read weekday newspaper. It is all for you.

‘Here’s to another 25 years.’

1999: The story begins

Metro’s first ever front page (left) covered the death of Rosemary Nelson, a solicitor in Northern Ireland who was murdered by a bomb exploding under her car

Metro launched at the dawn of the new Millennium, the brainchild of the media group’s new chairman, Jonathan Harmsworth, Viscount Rothermere. A print run of 85,000 papers was distributed across London in 1999.

The newspaper stated: ‘Welcome to Metro, London’s bright new daily newspaper.’ It was targeted at so-called ‘Urbanites’ to make their commutes that little more interesting. With no-rub-off ink, pages stapled together for convenience and at a more compact size than traditional broadsheets, the free newspaper gained popularity at speed.

It was the newspaper for those who previously did not read a newspaper.

At the time, launch editor Ian MacGregor said: ‘All they [commuters] wanted to do was get a seat on a train, and we had to persuade them it was worth crossing the platform or concourse to pick up a paper that was free.’

Metro’s first front page led with the death of civil rights campaigner and solicitor Rosemary Nelson, killed by a car bomb planted by a loyalist paramilitaries outside her home in Northern Ireland.

Within a year, the paper had expanded to Manchester. It reached Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, and Birmingham by 2001. 

At the time of its 10th anniversary in 2009, Metro’s circulation had increased to 1.35million. By October 2016, this figure rose to a massive 1.48m, becoming the UK’s largest circulating daily newspaper and most successful free newspaper. 

Today the paper, combined with Metro.co.uk, reaches five million people every day – and that’s before you include the tens of millions more finding Metro each month on social media, on apple news and on MSN, among other platforms.

Making connections: Why we love to love Rush Hour Crush

For many Metro readers, Rush Hour Crush and the Good Deed Feed are iconic parts of the free newspaper’s history. They allowed people to anonymously reach out to crushes found on their commute or pay tribute to Good Samaritans encountered on their travels. 

One of the biggest fans of Rush Hour Crush is none other than singer James Blunt, who recently guest edited the column, offering advice to lovestruck readers.

For Michael Nobbs, the Rush Hour Crush column even led to marriage. In 2008, he felt sure he had spotted the woman of his dreams but, because of a stutter, he didn’t have the confidence to say hello. Instead, he put a message in Rush Hour Crush. The pair met and fell in love, and Michael proposed with a copy of Metro. They married in 2011 and had a daughter, Rita.

Meanwhile, Metro reader Adam Lyons planned an ‘unforgettable’ proposal in the paper’s ever-popular singles section. He had met girlfriend Ashleigh Porteous on a train in London before the pair moved out to Melbourne, Australia.

Adam worked with Metro Talk Editor Paul Dietrich to create the secret message to be go in the paper on December 11, 2021. Once it appeared, a friend posted eight copies of the newspaper 10,500 miles to Melbourne.

Adam later told Deputy Features editor Amanda Cable: ‘I took Ashleigh to the river at Barossa Valley, south Australia, handed her a copy of Metro and she screamed with delight.’

Michael Nobbs turned to Rush-Hour Crush for help after spotting future wife Sarah on the train

IT manager Gavin Smith also used the paper to propose to his girlfriend Rebecca Church, who he had met via Rush Hour Crush. In 2012, Gavin handed Rebecca a Metro on the platform at Shepherds Bush station. His message read in the column read, ‘I’m the Tall Rugby Player who contacted you through Rush Hour Crush. I can’t imagine my life without you.’ 

More recently, a couple embarked upon a new relationship after one caught the other’s eye on the journey from Guildford to London they both took each day.

The woman posted a note in Rush Hour Crush, then the following day, when it was printed, handed the man a copy of the paper. ‘Turn to page 10,’ she said. Looks like someone is asking you out.’

He took the paper and read the note – but did not realise it was written by the girl standing in front of him. Only after the two exchanged messages all week via the Rush Hour Crush column, culminating in a plan to meet at a certain moment at their shared station, did he realise what had happened.

Now the two are happily dating and living together in London. Another Rush Hour Crush success.

Metro’s Good Deed Feed has had its fair share of success too, not least when it helped reunite a woman abandoned in a phone box as a baby with the passer-by who saved her life. 

(Left) Joe pictured shortly after he found Kiran and (right) the pair reunited in Metro’s offices in 2016

Kiran Sheikh was only two hours old when she was abandoned on April 30, 1994. She was found by Joe Campbell, then 30, who called police after seeing what he first thought was ‘a bag of chips’. Kiran spoke in the Metro appealing to find her rescuer and Joe’s co-worker spotted the story.

The pair would later meet in our London offices. Kiran had said: ‘It’s so amazing to have been reunited with him. He’s my hero. We lived down the road from each other for years, we must have passed each other, I can’t believe we were so close.’

And in 2023, Metro helped Birmingham’s ‘oldest paperboy’ save a woman’s life.

Alan Humpage, then 80, routinely dropped copies of the Metro at his elderly neighbour’s house. One rainy Monday he noticed his paper from the previous Friday remained on the lady’s porch. After craning his neck, Alan spotted the woman on the floor of her living room where she was ‘struggling and shouting in pain.’

He raised the alarm and ultimately saved her life. He told Metro: ‘Dropping off the Metros is just an example of how we look out for each other here when we can.’

Famous front pages 

Metro’s front pages covering the deaths of British icons have become part of history. Distribution bins lay empty after the deaths of David Bowie, Vivienne Westwood and Prince as people clamoured to save copies as mementos. 

In a break in style, Metro produced a poster portrait – which spread over the front and back page – of a young Queen Elizabeth to mark the monarch’s death on September 8, 2022. The paper dedicated 44 pages to key stories and pictures from her life. Front pages covering the Queen’s death and funeral are still listed on eBay.

In the wake of the 7/7 attacks, which saw four suicide bombers strike London’s transport network, killing 52 people and injuring over 770 others, Metro’s front page message was directed to ‘our readers’.  It stated: ‘Our thoughts are with you all, especially those who lost loved ones, or who were injured in the attacks.’

In 2022, Arben Halili tried to stop a coach carrying asylum seekers from leaving the Manston immigration facility in Kent. He told a Sky News reporter he only discovered his family were being held there after seeing a photograph of his eight-year-old nephew in the Metro. The front page picture had displayed the image of young boys sitting behind a wire fence, peeking out from beneath a tarpaulin.

Our coverage of major political events – such as the Brexit vote, Scottish independence referendum and Donald Trump’s rise to power in America – have also gone down in history.

And who could forget when Stanley Johnson was pictured reading none other than Metro to get the latest on his son’s fight for political survival.

The 81-year-old was spotted on the Piccadilly line as the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s leadership was on a knife-edge. The splash read ‘Going! Going! Gone?’ in reference to Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid sensationally quitting their Cabinet posts within minutes of each other.

The creations of Metro’s venerable cartoonist, Guy Venables, are also an iconic part of Metro’s history – with humorous takes on everything from Britain’s revolving door of Prime Ministers to the coronation of King Charles.

Famous faces

Sixty Seconds is a snappy interview series with big names, from showbiz to sport (Picture: Getty/Metro.co.uk)

Metro’s iconic ‘60 Second’ celebrity interview first appeared in January 2000 and has attracted names such as Helen Mirren, Sir Ian McKellen, David Tennant and Gwyneth Paltrow.

It’s not just entertainment names that have featured. Politicians such as Sir Keir Starmer, Ed Davey and Nicola Sturgeon have been quizzed on the most random of topics. Sir Keir added that he was a ‘big fan’ of the newspaper’s sport section and an avid reader of 60 seconds himself.

Metro’s Guilty Pleasures section, headed up by showbiz journalist Andrei Harmsworth for several years, scored interviews with music sensations Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber. The first interview with actor James Norton featured in the paper and he later said he ‘owes it all to Metro.’

Metro reviews have pleased even the likes of Liam Gallagher (Picture: X/Twitter)

In 2010, Andrei spoke to Amy Winehouse in what would be one of her last interviews. The singer, at the premiere of her boyfriend Reg Travis’s film, Psychosis, had raved about her ‘lovely’ and ‘inspirational’ other half to Metro.

Our entertainment desk – spread between London and New York – have featured at press junkets, walked red carpets and attended premieres for the most exciting productions.

Former entertainment reporter Louise Griffin’s review of Liam Gallagher at the 02 Arena  in 2019 led to the ex-Oasis singer tweeting: ‘Louise griffin who writes for the metro knows her stuff. Thankyou LG x’

Campaigning journalism

Metro staff and readers on Scafell Pike for the Metro Lifeline Challenge in 2022 (Picure: Metro.co.uk)

Whether it’s our Pride month coverage, Metro.co.uk’s Immigration Nation series or Lifeline fundraising, Metro is always set out to make a difference. 

That ethos spreads across the newsroom and commercial team.  

In 2010, the newspaper launched ‘Urban Action’, which called upon staff, readers and clients to become mentors and volunteers for inner-city children.

A major recycling campaign was created in conjunction with TfL, Keep Britain Tidy and the Mayor of London the following year to ensure Metro was disposed of sustainably. 

In 2013, Metro was one of the first major news outlets to back the ‘Rainbow Laces’ campaign, launched by Stonewall UK. It encouraged players to wear multi-coloured laces to kick homophobia out of football. Rainbow laces logos were added to Vodafone and Starbucks adverts in Metro, while Premier Inn agreed to change its name to ‘Premier Out’ on their advert, in support for the Rainbow Laces campaign. 

(left) Metro’s backing of the Rainbow Laces campaign and (right) a front page which won Newsworks’ Ad of the Month

Metro’s lifestyle team have also overseen ‘12 days of kindness’ in the lead up to Christmas, encouraging readers far and wide to mark the holiday season with a good deed.

In 2021, the first ever Braille front page of a national newspaper hit the streets after Metro teamed up with the Royal National Institute of Blind People. More than 15,000 special editions were distributed to promote the charity’s festive Letter from Santa campaign. It was hoped some of the UK’s 14,500 children with visual impairments would enjoy the personalised message from Father Christmas.

And since 2023, Metro has fought to help parents find affordable ways to buy baby formula amid the cost of living crisis. Our Formula for Change campaign, backed by the likes of Ladbaby, The Labour Party, Iceland CEO Richard Walker and comedian Katherine Ryan, is calling on the government to urgently review their infant formula legislation.

Deputy editor Claie Wilson says the issue was ‘too big to ignore.’ She adds: ‘With nearly a million readers across the UK, Metro has the power to make real change, which is why we work so hard to give a voice to those often left unheard.

‘The ongoing success and support of our Formula for Change campaign shows how much of a difference Metro readers can really make.’ 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Kirsten.Robertson@metro.co.uk 

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