MetroCar4058
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- Joined
- 18 Jun 2014
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- 578
The turn time at South Shields is only 4 1/2 minutes therefore reducing it any further isn’t possible.
How many platforms will the new South Shields station have?
The turn time at South Shields is only 4 1/2 minutes therefore reducing it any further isn’t possible.
Nexus have been pretty vague and non commital on this issue tbh. Which really is peak Nexus.
I think what frustrates Chichester passengers is seeing the train crawl through P2. Without the above detail from Nexus it doesn’t look great to passengers.
Another day of infrastructure failure today...still...new trains soon *cough*
Been looking at old photos of the metro recently. I have found photos of when they had the old line colours on the destinations. I have found examples of the following (see attached):
•Green line (South Shields to Airport)
•Yellow line (Pelaw to St James)
•Red line (Pelaw to Benton)
•Black line (well, not really a line - I believe this was used for miscellaneous destinations such as South Gosforth, Tynemouth and “Not In Service”)
Apparently, from looking at old metro maps, there was also a blue line, running from North Shields to St James? I have as of yet been unable to find a photo of a metro with a blue destination on the front; does anyone know if blue line trains used to have blue destination boards on front?
I always thought it was around 6 mins although I only have fairly limited experience so might be wrong on that. Either way, I still don't get how signalling constraints mean a train can't stop at Chichester P2 when as I say, there is only one train in that section for the duration. I see many more people are trying to get answers to this also, it is probably actually quite a big inconvience for any passengers involved.
Evening Chronicle said:Metro depot to be built in Howdon to help deliver new £500m fleet
Plans to build a temporary depot facility on a former landfill site in Wallsend Road have been approved
A new Metro depot which will help deliver a new £500m fleet of trains will be built in Howdon.
Plans to build a temporary depot facility on a former landfill site in Wallsend Road won the approval of North Tyneside Council’s planning committee on Tuesday morning.
The site will first be used for overnight maintenance work on up to 10 Metro trains during the redevelopment of Nexus’ existing Gosforth depot.
It will also play a key role in the phased delivery of the new Metro fleet, which it is hoped will begin arriving at the end of 2021, and the long-awaited removal of the current trains.
Nexus bosses are thought to have spent £1 million purchasing the vacant land, which runs adjacent to the Metro line, from North Tyneside Council earlier this year.
Documents presented to the North East Combined Authority in June indicated that £13.3 million had been set aside for the acquisition of the land and the construction of the satellite depot.
A Nexus spokesperson said: “Our investment in a new fleet of trains is going to transform the customer experience on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
“Not only are we pressing ahead with our plans to buy new trains but we also have the funds in place to build a new maintenance depot in South Gosforth, on the site of the current Metro depot.
“As Metro and its staff transition to these new facilities over the coming years we need a temporary depot, which will be at Howdon in North Tyneside. This site will be used to carry out routine fleet maintenance work when we are rebuilding the main depot in South Gosforth. It will allow us to stable up to ten Metro trains at a different location as the building work progresses.
“The Howdon depot will also play a vital role as the new Metro fleet starts to arrive in late 2021. It will be the access point where we take delivery of the new trains in what will be a phased programme of deliveries.”
Five manufacturing giants - Bombardier, CAF, Downer/CRCC, Hitachi, and Stadler - are currently bidding for the £500 million contract to build the new Metro fleet.
That list will be whittled down to three before the winning bid is confirmed in late 2019.
Nexus expect to see the first new train arriving on North East tracks by late 2021, after which they will be gradually rolled out over a two-year period.
The 42 new trains are expected to arrive at a rate of two per month.
Nexus has secured Government grant funding of £337m towards the projected £362m cost of designing and building a new train fleet. This and the ongoing maintenance of the fleet over 35 years makes the total contract value about £500m.
More than 20 alternative sites were considered for the temporary depot – but previously recommended locations in Shields Road and Benton Square were later ruled out due to limited space, ground contamination, and overhead power lines.
It is anticipated that the Howdon site would be used for up to 10 years, after which it would be decommissioned and returned to undeveloped scrub land.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/metromadme/8679139580/in/album-72157633319689652/ - Picture courtesy of metromadme, fantastic collection of photos in there, well worth a look.
Interesting about the tempory depot although I think it will be a missed opportunity and not full on worth the costs if its going to be knocked back down within 10 years.
Also interesting the Chronicle mentioned 42 trains, I know the number suggested was less than what we originally got now(which could be a mistake in itself) but would 42 trains suggests effectively 1 whole train rather than the 2 carriages we have now?
The new fleet will be 42 trains, which is a total of 168 coaches. (4 coach trains).
The current fleet is 90 trains strong, each train being 2 coaches, operating in pairs to form 4 coach trains.
The new trains will be fixed consists of the same length as the two unit pairs we see now.
As such, we’re still getting less.
Interestingly, I’m also hearing that the 25KV dual voltage requirement has been dropped in favour of exploring battery tech.
The depot at Howden will be more of a yard with basic facilities. It’s intended to provide relief while Gosforth is being rebuilt.
Nexus explored the option of moving the depot completely, but in fairness it is rather well placed from an operational perspective compared to anywhere else they’d be able to purchase suitable land.
Speaking of the single line, have Nexus explored the possibility of dualing the track between Pelaw and Hebburn and perhaps even onwards to Jarrow?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/metromadme/8679139580/in/album-72157633319689652/ - Picture courtesy of metromadme, fantastic collection of photos in there, well worth a look.
A new series for ITV will feature life on the Tyne and Wear Metro – the first time in-depth access has been granted in the Metro’s near 40 year history.
The four-part series is the first commission for Leeds based producer Wise Owl Films, a Lime Pictures company that launched this year.
The 25kv situation is something I have spoken about with a journalist in the industry who was involved in the Nexus / supplier know-your-customer event. Power supply is not a "rough" component of the specification, and is explicit in certain options either being required or not. Again, suppliers could choose to incorporate this, but if they're not being explicitly required to and there is no extra funding for it, why would they?
Presumably bids will be scored on both price and how much of the spec they meet - 25kv capability may not be compulsory but I'd be surprised if at least some (Stadler?) didn't offer passive provision so it could be retro-fitted and/or provided on future orders.
I'm thinking Sunderland to the Metro Centre...The 25kv spec has been officially ditched. It turned out to be cost prohibitive upon further investigation. The new strategy is battery storage so the new trains can run ‘overhead wire free’ for a specified distance. The costings and details haven’t been worked out so it’s unclear whether this would allow the trains to run on an unelectrified extension or if it would just allow trains to travel a short distance in the event of an overhead power failure on the existing network.
I'm thinking Sunderland to the Metro Centre...
Does anyone know how tall the tunnels are?
Both In Newcastle and Sunderland
Today I sat in the front seat next to the driver’s cab and I noticed something in the cab constantly clicks randomly as the train brakes and pulls into a station. The best I can describe it as is a loud noticable clicking sound at irregular intervals. Does anyone know what it is for my own info - I assume it’s to do with the brakes?