£30 million Metro refurbishment at halfway point

The £30 million modernisation works on the Tyne & Wear Metro trains have reached halfway.

43 Metro cars have already been refurbished and are now back in service, with a further 43 set to be ready by next year.

The work forms part of the overall £389 million Metro: all change modernisation programme; a Government-funded scheme to upgrade Metro trains, stations and tracks.

DB Regio, which operates trains and stations on behalf of Nexus, is delivering, as part of its contract, the ‘three-quarter life’ refurbishment, which is being carried out by Wabtec in Doncaster, a company which has carried out similar projects for London Underground trains.

The Metro cars have been have been stripped down to their frames and then built back up again.

Louise Shaw, engineering director at DB Regio Tyne and Wear, said: “We first began the project to refurbish the existing fleet in 2010 and have come a long way since then, with half of the trains having now undergone an extensive update.

“A variety of members of staff have worked tirelessly in different ways to help us reach this point and will continue to do so until all Metro cars in the fleet have received the planned improvements and innovations.

“Feedback from customers regarding the new trains already in circulation has been extremely positive and we are now focusing on refurbishing the remaining cars, to help ensure all passengers receive a reliable and comfortable journey with Metro, in the future.”

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