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Tyne & Wear Metro Fleet Replacement: Awarded to Stadler

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sprinterguy

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inais20 said:
Metro have released a photo on their Twitter account:

https://twitter.com/My_Metro/status/1222091755178397698
Click to expand...
Good to see an image, thanks for sharing.

Five cars, it would seem, but shorter vehicles than the Merseyrail sets. Using the number of windows and doors of the Merseyrail sets as a rough template, suggests the Tyne and Wear sets may be about 2 metres longer than the Merseyrail ones, at about 67 metres. That'd be 11.4 metres longer than the current pairs of Metrocars which measure 55.6 metres in total.

Assuming that Stadler stick with their trademark vehicle articulation (Now confirmed), that gives a maximum distance between bogie centres not a great deal more than that of the existing articulated Metrocars, which presumably suits local infrastructure gauging constraints.

What a depressingly bland livery that'll show up the dirt in no time. I personally think that the livery the Merseyrail units are being delivered in is much more appealing and would have needed minimal tweaking to suit the current TW Metro corporate scheme!
 
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DanNCL

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A few other images have also been released:
84002073_2995287433823808_469454352247947264_o.jpg

EPXAvRzX0AATIhE

EPXAvSjXUAAL9sH

The page on the Nexus website about the new units:
https://www.nexus.org.uk/newmetrotrains

And this 8 second video has appeared on youtube:
 
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Meerkat

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Where is the new depot going to be, or is it just rebuilding the old one?
 
sprinterguy

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transmanche said:
So, it looks like it's going to be a five-car/five-section articulated unit?
Click to expand...
Yeah, as I noted above:
sprinterguy said:
Five cars, it would seem, but shorter vehicles than the Merseyrail sets. Using the number of windows and doors of the Merseyrail sets as a rough template, suggests the Tyne and Wear sets may be about 2 metres longer than the Merseyrail ones, at about 67 metres. That'd be 11.4 metres longer than the current pairs of Metrocars which measure 55.6 metres in total.

Assuming that Stadler stick with their trademark vehicle articulation (Now confirmed), that gives a maximum distance between bogie centres not a great deal more than that of the existing articulated Metrocars, which presumably suits local infrastructure gauging constraints.
Click to expand...
 
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transmanche said:
Rebuilding the old one. A temporary one is being built near Howdon for use while the South Gosforth depot is rebuilt.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Are these units low floor and does the Metro have standard platform height?
I note that they don’t have the gap protectors that the Merseyrail ones will have - surprised they haven’t become a new de facto standard provision.
 
sprinterguy

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Meerkat said:
Thanks. Are these units low floor and does the Metro have standard platform height?
I note that they don’t have the gap protectors that the Merseyrail ones will have - surprised they haven’t become a new de facto standard provision.
Click to expand...
They're high floor units to suit the existing Metro platforms - Which are in some cases converted or rebuilt heavy rail ones - and retain the current level boarding facility. Can't think of any platforms on the network that aren't at a standard height.

I was surprised to see the gap protectors omitted from these as well.
 
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transmanche

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Meerkat said:
Thanks. Are these units low floor and does the Metro have standard platform height?
I note that they don’t have the gap protectors that the Merseyrail ones will have - surprised they haven’t become a new de facto standard provision.
Click to expand...
Metro has a standard platform height and all platforms are straight and have level boarding. (This may not be true for the section shared with mainline trains.) You don't get the same sort of large gaps between trains and platforms that you get on Merseyrail. I guess this means there's no real need for bodyside deflectors as there's no gap to fall down into,

At South Gosforth, I've noticed there are what I can only describe as 'rubber teeth' on the platform edge, which fill the small gap between train and platform.
 
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Thanks
Last question - are these fully mainline? I believe current stock has to be double blocked to Sunderland?? Could these go to Chathill etc?
 
trainbow

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Meerkat said:
Thanks. Are these units low floor and does the Metro have standard platform height?
I note that they don’t have the gap protectors that the Merseyrail ones will have - surprised they haven’t become a new de facto standard provision.
Click to expand...

From Nexus:
“Among new features will be an automatic sliding step at every door of the new trains, making travel easier for Metro’s 50,000 wheelchair passengers as well as people with children’s buggies, luggage or bicycles.”

https://www.nexus.org.uk/news/item/nexus-unveils-ps362m-new-tyne-and-wear-metro-trains
 
trainbow

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No mention if they’re dual-voltage (1500V DC and 25kV AC) capable out of the box, or if that’s an option to be simply added in the future. This was specified as essential in the tender specification I saw.
 
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transmanche

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Meerkat said:
Last question - are these fully mainline? [...] Could these go to Chathill etc?
Click to expand...
trainbow said:
No mention if they’re dual-voltage (1500V DC and 25kV AC) capable out of the box, or if that’s an option to be simply added in the future.
Click to expand...
Even if they are 25kV AC-capable, if they are limited to 80 km/h (50 mph) like the current stock (and the similar trains on the Berlin U-Bahn) then I really hope they won't be appearing on the ECML!
 
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Question - were the Hitachi units to be built here or in Italy? My understanding is that the design chosen was an Italian design built over there which Aycliffe couldn't do as (a) not equipped and (b) full.

If true the political guff at the decision is really ill-informed...
 
transmanche

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RochdalePioneers said:
Question - were the Hitachi units to be built here or in Italy? My understanding is that the design chosen was an Italian design built over there which Aycliffe couldn't do as (a) not equipped and (b) full.
Click to expand...
The wording of Hitachi's statement this morning implies they would have been built (or more likely, assembled) the UK.
We put forward what we thought was the right proposal for UK-built trains and maintenance at a reasonable, deliverable price.
Click to expand...
My bolding for emphasis.
Source:https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/...etro-decision-to-reject-county-durham-trains/
 
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Domh245

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trainbow said:
From Nexus:
“Among new features will be an automatic sliding step at every door of the new trains, making travel easier for Metro’s 50,000 wheelchair passengers as well as people with children’s buggies, luggage or bicycles.”

https://www.nexus.org.uk/news/item/nexus-unveils-ps362m-new-tyne-and-wear-metro-trains
Click to expand...

The sliding steps aren't the same as the gap protectors and are pretty much standard on Stadler stock that I can tell. The gap protectors are the triangular profiles running along the side of the merseyrail stock just above the bottom of the doors but as someone pointed out, if there isn't a gap that needs protecting, no point putting them there and these look pretty slab sided!
 
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“The company will work with more than 30 new supply chain partners in the UK advanced manufacturing, technology and construction sectors, half of them in North East England, creating and securing hundreds of skilled jobs.”
Isn’t that the bit that allegedly went wrong for Stadler in East Anglia?
 
sprinterguy

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transmanche

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sprinterguy said:
Just noticed that there's interior mock ups at the bottom of the page linked above. I'm somewhat dismayed to find that all the seating will be linear. I would have thought that, for journeys that can typically be about 25 minutes long but can be much longer, a mix of transverse and linear seating as per the LU S stock trains would have been more appropriate.
Click to expand...
I too would have preferred an S8-stock style seating arrangement. And I said that during one of the consultation exercises. But, apparently, "tube-style" longitudinal seating is what the public wants.

From a Newcastle Chronicle article back in December 2017, "New Metro trains WILL have Tube-style seating after decision by transport bosses":
Nexus says it has consulted with passengers and transport experts on three separate occasions and have found a clear consensus for Tube-style linear seating on the new trains.
Click to expand...
 
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Regarding East Coast Main Line running I can't see it happening as the frequency levels on the Metro wouldn't work on the East Coast Main Line.

I know however NEXUS wanted dual voltage in case the Durham Coast Line is ever electrified as it will be done to 25kv AC not the 1500v DC that is used on the Metro.
 
Mikey C

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transmanche said:
I too would have preferred an S8-stock style seating arrangement. And I said that during one of the consultation exercises. But, apparently, "tube-style" longitudinal seating is what the public wants.

From a Newcastle Chronicle article back in December 2017, "New Metro trains WILL have Tube-style seating after decision by transport bosses":
Click to expand...

Some rather strange justifications, as following that logic ALL trains and indeed buses would have sideways seats!

He added: “Another bugbear for passengers with the current layout is that seats are wasted when people sit in the aisle seats instead of the window.

“There is also a problem with people putting their feet on the seats opposite, which not only wastes a seat but creates an issue of cleanliness for the next person sitting there and gives an impression of antisocial behaviour.”
 
Killingworth

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transmanche said:
I too would have preferred an S8-stock style seating arrangement. And I said that during one of the consultation exercises. But, apparently, "tube-style" longitudinal seating is what the public wants.

From a Newcastle Chronicle article back in December 2017, "New Metro trains WILL have Tube-style seating after decision by transport bosses":
Click to expand...

The majority of users only travel a few stops so that would sway opinions. A much lower number go long distances, like to the airport.

Feet on seats and hogging aisle seats, with shopping on the seat by the window, is something you'll see on almost every train. Shame they couldn't have some conventional seats, but increased capacity is badly needed. I have no difficulty standing for the few stops I normally travel.

Incidentally the underground stations were built to take a much longer train, double length of existing units if I remember correctly. That never happened and those bits remain shrouded in darkness.
 
deanmachine

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Virtually no seating then, looks like it's going to be a bit of a pain coming back from Newcastle to South Shields with a young child, might have to start getting the X34, or god forbid, the 27 more, at least we'd have a seat.
 
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