The company in charge of maintaining the Tyne and Wear Metro’s troubled train fleet has been ordered to improve.
Metro operator Nexus has served formal notice on Stadler to improve the reliability of services after the network has become plagued by problems over recent months. Passengers have become increasingly frustrated by delays and cancellations that have been caused by an array of issues – including a fire, flooding, cable theft, industrial action, anti-social behaviour, staff sickness, storm damage at Whitley Bay station, and an overhead line collapse.
Transport chiefs recently slashed the Metro timetable due to a lack of available working trains, axeing the extra services that ran from Pelaw to Monkseaton at peak times. Meanwhile, a major fare hike for some tickets was imposed last weekend.
