Old Nexus Metro train saved from scrapheap as fire service wants it for training crews in Washington

Sunderland City Council’s planning department this month (March, 2025), approved a planning application for the fire and rescue service’s training base in Washington.

The planning application sought permission to extend an existing “rail track simulator” with 15 metres of “additional rail line” and associated infrastructure.

According to the planning listing, the project aimed to allow the fire and rescue service to carry out “enhanced fire service training scenarios on a newly-decommissioned Nexus Metro train.”

Plans were approved by Sunderland City Council’s planning department on March 7, 2025, following consultation, and the works can now progress.

A council decision report said the plans would “aid the training of the fire service” and “would not lead to any loss of amenity to residential properties.”

It is understood that the decommissioned Metro train carriage will be donated to the fire and rescue service later this year and that the upgraded training facility will be operational by autumn, 2025.

A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson welcomed planning permission being approved and said the proposals would “enhance” the service’s Washington training hub.

This included the upgraded facilities playing a “vital role in enhancing operational crews’ training” around emergency situations.

“The approved application will see the addition of a 15-metre stretch of train track and infrastructure to an existing training facility,” the spokesperson added.

“This expansion is crucial in order to accommodate a decommissioned Metro train carriage from Nexus, which is expected later this year.

“The carriage will replace the current tube train that our firefighters have been using for training over the past several years.

“This new Metro carriage will play a vital role in enhancing our operational crews’ training, as it will help prepare them for emergencies involving trains, a key risk factor in our region.

“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Nexus for this generous contribution, which will be an invaluable addition to our training infrastructure.

“We anticipate the upgraded facility will be operational by autumn 2025.”

The planning application comes as Nexus continues to gradually phase out older rolling stock while bringing new trains into service across the Metro system.

James Parkinson, head of corporate contracting and commercial income at Nexus, said a Metro train will be “delivered” to Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) later this year.

“We’re delighted to say that a Metro train will be donated to TWFRS once it has been retired from service,” he said.

“The carriage will feature in a new training facility at the TWFRS headquarters in Washington and will help to support a range of essential training scenarios for fire fighters.

“We are in dialogue with colleagues at the fire and rescue service to plan the delivery of the Metro train, which we aim to carry out later this year.”

The Nexus chief also hinted at the future home of other old Nexus trains, with carriages already earmarked for several museums across the region.

He added: “The current Metro fleet has served the region well for more than 40 years, and we recognise that there is affection and nostalgia for the trains.

“However, they are now at the end of their life and will be gradually phased out over the next two years as the new Stadler trains enter customer service.

“Two old Metro carriages are being retained for heritage purposes so that we keep a lasting memory of the rolling stock which transformed the local public transport network when Metro first opened in 1980.

“The first ever Metro prototype train, carriage 4001, will be donated to the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Tyneside.

“A second train will be going to Beamish Museum in County Durham.”

For more information on the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service planning application, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/02493/FUL