Important milestone reached as Stadler finishes half of the new Tyne and Wear Metro trains

Stadler, the company that is building and delivering the new Tyne and Wear Metro fleet, has confirmed that 23 of the 46 trains it is building for Nexus have been completed.

The milestone means that the fleet is now one step closer to being introduced into customer service - with testing continuing on the Tyne and Wear Metro system.

The testing of the new fleet is aimed to cover every aspect of its design, including power supply, braking systems, digital passenger information boards, CCTV cameras and more.

Stadler has stated that the new trains will be “safe, reliable and comfortable”, with modern features that include charging points, air conditioning and an automatic sliding step at every door.

This step will make it easier for passengers to get on and off, particularly for those in wheelchairs, as well as people with push-chairs, luggage or bikes.

Patrick Küng, project manager at Stadler, has marked the milestone in the building of the new fleet and vowed that the new trains will “transform” the North East’s transport system.

He commented: “Producing half of the fleet illustrates how far we have come in the project to supply these fantastic new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro.

“Safety, reliability and comfort are at the heart of this product, which has been designed with the 21st century passenger in mind.

“They will transform rail travel in the North East of England.” 

Michael Richardson, head of fleet and depot replacement programme at Nexus, has revealed that testing of the new fleet is making good progress and Nexus hopes to have them in customer service by the end of 2024.

He said: “We’re delighted to see that Stadler has reached the halfway stage in the production of new Metro train fleet, which is going to be transformative for our customers and workforce.

“We’re getting a total of 46 new trains and half of the number that we’ve got on order are now completed. Seven new trains have been delivered so far, and more are set to follow.

“The testing of the new Metro trains continues on our network. We are making good progress and were aiming to get the first trains into customer service later in the year.

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“Testing the Stadler Class 555 Metro trains includes 90,000 individual checks. This had previously been taking place overnight when the Metro network is closed.

“It covers everything from seats and windscreen wipers, to more big-ticket items like brakes, CCTV, doors, wheels, and power supply. 

“There are approximately 19,000 hours of training time, with the first few trains completing 37,000 kilometres of running, as part of the testing phase.”

Earlier this year, Stadler finished work on a new maintenance facility at Gosforth, which will become the home of the new Tyne and Wear Metro fleet.

The new facility has been designed to a high specification which Nexus claims will ensure maximum availability and reliability of the Metro train fleet for decades to come.

The site was constructed on the same site as the former Metro depot, a 100 year old structure which was pulled down to pave the way for the new buildings and new train stabling areas.