I hope they truly are safe. Standing terraces in the 70/80s are better through the nostalgic rose tinted glasses of history than they were in reality. Getting pushed against crush barriers after a goal (not that common at St James Park before King Kev arrived admittedly!) was not much fun nor was that warm wet feeling on your jeans leg when the fat fella behind you couldn't be bothered to walk to the beautifully rustic bathrooms
The main problem years ago is that they let too many people into the ground when it was standing. As long as people are still allocated a place to stand then it will be safe