‘A sad day for the North East’ – Reaction as new Metro trains hit by ‘devastating’ setback

The latest delay to the Tyne and Wear Metro’s new trains will be “devastating” for passengers, a campaign group has warned.

It emerged on Monday that the highly-anticipated fleet being built by Swiss manufacturing giant Stadler has suffered another setback, with transport bosses saying they are in need of more detailed testing before being put into use. The first of the 46 new trains were originally meant to begin entering passenger service in summer 2023, but Metro operator Nexus confirmed that they now are aiming to have the start date come before the end of 2024.

Kevin Dickinson, from the Sort Out the Metro passenger group, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the revelation was “devastating news for passengers who are suffering from daily delays and cancellations on a much reduced timetable”. Nexus’ announcement came just weeks after commuters were forced to endure a record number of delays as the Metro’s ageing carriages become increasingly unreliable, with a historic low of just 61% of trains arriving on time during a four-week period in November and December.

Mr Dickinson added: “The delay [to the new fleet] is likely to mean further failures and reduced services for months to come. It is the latest in a line of projects from Nexus that have suffered delays and there seems to be no scrutiny from councillors.

“It’s becoming impossible to predict how long it will take to travel to a destination on Metro. This really hits those who need to use the Metro to travel to work, have hospital appointments or have a train or plane to catch. This is a sad day for the North East that used to have a public transport system we were proud of.”

Huw Lewis, Nexus’ customer services director, insisted that the Metro was “still a service customers can rely on” and that its passenger numbers had grown 13.5% over the last year – though he recognised that “things need to be better”.

Thom Campion, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Newcastle, said that “serious questions” had to be answered about the delivery of the new train fleet following the latest setback and claimed the region’s transport systems had been “politically mismanaged”. He added: “Whether it was the choice to choose Swiss made trains over the local option [Hitachi, which has a factory in County Durham], or the repeatedly missed contract milestones, it’s obvious that something has gone seriously wrong between Nexus and Stadler.”

Carl Johnson, Labour’s deputy mayor of North Tyneside and a prominent member of the North East Joint Transport Committee, urged Metro users to “keep our eyes on the long term prize” and that testing of the new trains had to be “absolutely right so that there are no further issues when people actually start travelling on them”. He said: “The roll out of the new Metro train fleet is an historic project, and the biggest in the history of the network, so it’s absolutely imperative that the new trains are tested thoroughly before entering service for customers.

“Nexus and Stadler have said further testing is going to be needed, and I can understand that will be frustrating news for passengers to hear. However, no stone is being left unturned getting these new trains ready, and to have the first few trains running later this year.”

The delay has been blamed on a need for extra testing of the new fleet’s traction during “unexpectedly poor” conditions, with previous setbacks having also been linked to factors including the war in Ukraine and inflation. It will leave engineers at the Metro’s Gosforth depot battling to keep the network’s current trains, which have been in use since the network opened in 1980 and are well past their shelf life, running for even longer.

Mr Lewis added: “We work hard on keeping our customers informed of any service disruption and planned major work and aim to offer clear and accessible information so they can plan their journeys effectively. As well as continuing to use our website, PAs and on station digital displays we are also enhancing and encouraging customers to download our free Pop App. The app provides more tailored information and enables customers to track their nearest Metro train in real time and view the latest departure times from their local station. It can also be used to plan Metro journeys in advance. This can be done anywhere, at any time, via a phone and approximately 100,000 customers have already downloaded it.

“We remain focused on getting the best possible performance from our current trains. Stadler is working closely with suppliers to source spare parts for the ageing fleet and we have invested further in maintenance of the current trains, bringing in heaters adapted from the airline industry to protect them through the winter, this has already helped improve fleet availability.”