UK: The first aluminium bodyshell for the Tyne & Wear Metro’s new fleet of custom-designed trainsets been completed at Stadler’s St Margrethen factory in Switzerland, and is now ready for fitting out.
‘Completing the first bodyshell is a highly symbolic landmark in the manufacturing process, and an outward sign that the vehicles are really beginning to take shape, after a period of design and preparation’, said Stadler’s Project Manager Adrian Wetter on December 1.
‘With the first now ready and painted in the Tyne & Wear Metro colours, we look forward to seeing this stage in full swing, with lots more produced over the months ahead.’
The contract signed by transport authority Nexus and Stadler in 2020 covered 42 five-car articulated 1·5 kV DC trainsets and 35 years of maintenance by the manufacturer, and a further four trainsets were ordered this year.
The trainsets are scheduled to be delivered between late 2022 and 2024, with the first to enter passenger service in mid-2023.
Nexus said they would be 15 times more reliable and cut energy consumption by 30% compared to the existing fleet of 89 articulated two-section trainsets dating from the early 1980s.
The new trains will have charging points and air-conditioning, and will offer a ‘step-change in accessibility’ with an automatic sliding step at every door.
