The first of the new Tyne and Wear Metro trains has suffered a “technical glitch” that has delayed its arrival in the North East for a second time.
Transport chiefs had hoped that they would be welcoming the first of the £362m fleet this week, having already seen it pushed back from December. But it has instead had to be taken back to manufacturer Stadler’s factory in Switzerland after experiencing a fault as it set off on its journey to the UK.
Metro operator Nexus insisted that the setback would “not affect the overall programme of delivering the new Metro train fleet”, with 46 new trains expected to arrive by early 2025 to replace the outdated carriages that have served passengers here for more than 40 years. Once the train finally arrives here, it will still be some time before passengers can actually set foot on it – with autumn of this year being targeted for it to enter passenger service, after local testing and driver training is complete.
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Stadler confirmed: “A technical glitch occurred on the new Metro train at the start of its journey from mainland Europe to the UK. This meant that it had to be brought back to Switzerland in order to be fixed.
“Once this problem has been rectified, Stadler will book track access to enable the train to make the trip to Newcastle, where it will undergo testing on the network as planned, ahead of entering passenger service later this year.”
It had been hoped that the train would have arrived in the UK by the end of 2022, but plans to bring it across in December were scrapped because of it being a “busy period” for pre-Christmas rail engineering works.
A Nexus spokesperson said: “Stadler have notified us that there is a technical issue with the first new Metro train which means that it won’t be brought over to North East England this week as planned. The train, the first of 46 that we have on order from Stadler, has been returned to the factory for some further work.
"Once completed it will get a new delivery slot for its long journey across mainland Europe from Switzerland and into the UK via the Channel Tunnel. This issue will not affect the overall programme of delivering the new Metro train fleet, which is going to be transformative for our customers and for our workforce.
“When the first new train arrives it will undergo a further period of testing and driver training as planned, before a scheduled entry into service for customers in the autumn.”
The new trains will boast 21st century features such as air conditioning, wifi, and phone charging points, and should be 30% more energy efficient than the Metro’s current stock.
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