No “spare” Metro trains were fit to be deployed to help during travel chaos on Wednesday as freezing temperatures wreaked havoc.
Tyne and Wear transport bosses pledged last week that recently-imposed cuts to the Metro timetable would allow carriages to be kept in reserve and sent out to meet extra demand when needed. But there was no such help for frustrated Metro passengers left waiting on platforms and enduring packed carriages on Wednesday morning – because too many trains are broken.
Seven trains had to be taken out of service as they struggled during sub-zero weather and Metro operator Nexus confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that there were no spares available to cover them due to an ongoing maintenance nightmare. Nexus had initially claimed last week that it was scrapping its extra peak-time services between Pelaw and Monkseaton due to reduced post-pandemic demand, before a leaked email revealed that a lack of working trains was the true reason behind the cuts.
The Metro’s current trains have been running on the Tyne and Wear network for more than 40 years and have become increasingly unreliable as they go beyond their expected lifespan. A £362m fleet of Swiss-built replacements is on its way, with two new trains now delivered to the North East, but the first of those will not be put into passenger service until later this year.
Nexus told the LDRS that the current trains’ “obsolete technology” struggles when trying to start them up in cold weather – with some having to be kept in underground stations overnight in an effort to keep them warm. Stadler, which is building the new fleet and is responsible for maintaining the current stock in the meantime, also apologised and said that “logistical challenges” posed by the move to a new depot was also playing a part in the breakdown problems.
A Nexus spokesperson said that the publicly-owned body hopes to use the spare trains made available by the timetable cuts “in the coming months”. They said: “We are sorry for the disruption our customers experienced on Wednesday morning. We had to withdraw seven trains from service due to the severe cold, which caused them to break down.
“The current Metro fleet is 43 years old and is an increasing maintenance challenge for the team at depot, who are working around the clock to keep them in good working order while we get ready for the new trains to start entering service. In freezing temperatures these old trains do tend to suffer more from failures.
“We are working hard to address this issue. A winter preparedness plan was in place overnight, which involved keeping trains inside underground stations. This helped to minimise the impact of this issue.
“We have taken the difficult decision to withdraw extra peak time Metro trains while Stadler deal with the significant challenge of keeping the ageing fleet in working order during our transition to a new depot and to the new Stadler train fleet. The removal of the peak services will allow us to operate in a more frequent and more reliable service. We are confident we can deliver a high level of punctuality, and build on this by re-introducing extra peak services at times of high demand in the coming months.”
Newcastle councillor Thom Campion, the city Lib Dems’ transport spokesman, said he was “deeply concerned” by the leaked information revealed by the LDRS on Tuesday and said Nexus “has a responsibility to be open and honest with residents across Tyne and Wear”. He added: “Years of underfunding with crossed fingers for a change in government have left Nexus in a dire shape and it’s no surprise there are so many issues across the system.”
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