Tyne & Wear Metro’s first Stadler train enters passenger service

UK: The first of the 46 custom-designed Class 555 trainsets that Stadler is supplying to replace the Tyne & Wear Metro fleet entered passenger service on December 18.

’We are now witnessing the first steps towards making Metro, once again, a world-class system the whole region can be proud of’, said North East Mayor Kim McGuinness who joined passengers on the first journey.

The new train will initially run from Monday to Friday as part of a phased roll-out. Two-thirds of the 46 trainsets ordered have now been built, and 13 have been delivered with 25 more to follow in 2025 and the rest in 2026.

Cathy Massarella, Managing Director of operator Nexus, said the new trains would ‘transform the customer experience, delivering more comfort, more quality and more reliability. We’re already looking forward to getting more new trains into service over the coming months. A vast amount of work has gone into this project, which is our biggest since Metro was first built.’

More than 23 000 people participated in consultation on the design, using virtual reality and digital engagement from Newcastle University’s OpenLab research team.

Features of the articulated five-car aluminium bodied units include mobile charging points, double grab poles, climate control, 44 digital CCTV cameras and improved accessibility including an automatic sliding step supplied by Bode at each set of doors. Onboard batteries allow up to 45 min of running in the event of disruption to the network’s 1·5 kV DC power supply.

There are 116 seats including 12 tip-up seats, with priority seating is clearly marked and positioned opposite real-time digital information screens. There are four wheelchair bays and two multi-use areas for pushchairs, cycles and heavy luggage.

‘These trains are tailor made to suit the local network’, said Patrick Küng, Commercial Project Manager at Stadler which also has a 35-year full-service maintenance contract for the fleet. ‘They are designed to accommodate the characteristics of the system and produced in line with Nexus’ specification.’

The trains were ordered to replace the original fleet dating from the early 1980s as part of a £362m investment package to modernise the 77·5 km network.