MetroCar4058
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- Joined
- 18 Jun 2014
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- 578
With the end of the concession; it is correct that all cars, excluding the Emirates advertising now feature the corporate branding.When did it get repainted
With the end of the concession; it is correct that all cars, excluding the Emirates advertising now feature the corporate branding.When did it get repainted
I believe 4001 has not been repainted.
I doubt that price alone would convince Nexus to buy stock from China as opposed to buying from a manufacturer with a UK site (Bombardier, Hitachi, CAF or Alstom), or from a European manufacturer (Siemens and Stadler), though this is Nexus we're talking about here; they could do anything!I wonder if CRRC would make a bid for the new stock? Sure if they offer a bargain basement price it may be too good to refuse.
It really can’t come soon enough. Tonight was farcical.
Appreciate it was a major issue and happening at peak rush was unfortunate but the Southern part of the network collapsed. Communication online was ok, replacement buses came slowly but surely, local service buses were overwhelmed.
I boarded at four lane ends. We got kicked off at South Gosforth, driver apologised on tannoy and admitted he had no idea why the train was being removed. Boarded the follow up replacement where it then took 25 minutes to get from South Gosforth to Haymarket. Again driver apologised and said they weren’t sure why.
It seems the location of the train has caused problems. Metro beleaguered and probably mentally scarred twitter bod relayed control advised service would resume at 22.30. An hour later, and the train isn’t moving as they’d hope.
One thing I am curious about. Where do the army of candy crush playing customer ignoring gate attendants go to during disruption? They weren’t at Gateshead, Heworth or any central locations. A poor Churchill employed cleaner was directing folk at Gateshead.
Thank heavens for Go North East proactively stacking up extra 27s or I’d be forking out for a cab.
Overhead wires are down at Chichester. Nothing running Hebburn to South Shields.
Nexus, the public body which owns and operates the Tyne and Wear Metro, has officially begun the process of buying a new train fleet – a £362m project which will transform the reliability of Metro services for passengers.
A tendering exercise has been launched in order to source a rolling stock supplier who will design and build the new Metro trains, which are scheduled to enter service at the end of 2021.
Nexus is expecting global interest in the contract, which is the biggest project in the history of the Tyne and Wear Metro system since it was built in the late 1970s.
The Government has committed £337m towards the cost of new train fleet, with a £25m contribution coming from Nexus.
The new Metro fleet, 84 carriages (42 trains) in total, will offer greater reliability while delivering improved comfort and convenience for passengers. Trains will have air conditioning, digital connectivity, phone charging points and a linear seat layout to create more space for wheelchairs, standing room and luggage.
A new maintenance depot will be built on the existing Metro depot site at Gosforth in Newcastle.
The commencement of the procurement process was given the green light by the North East Combined Authority’s Leadership Board on January 16.
Cllr Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council and thematic lead for transport on the North East Combined Authority, said: “A reliable Metro service is absolutely vital and a new fleet of trains ensures that we can deliver that.
“Investment in new rolling stock was long overdue. Nexus are now in a position to crack on and purchase the new trains and get them built.
“This is the first step on the road to a bright new era for the Tyne and Wear Metro, a key public service that plays such a big part in so many people’s everyday lives.”
Managing Director of Nexus, Tobyn Hughes, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the funding and now that we have approval from the Combined Authority we can get on with the job of buying the new trains.
“The trains that we will buy will transform the reliability of the Metro system, as well as reducing energy usage and updating the experience of travelling by Metro. We will also future-proof them so that they have the capability of serving more destinations on a wider network in the future.
“We are in the process of finalising the specification, and we have used extensive market research to inform the interior layout, for example by providing more standing room and space for luggage. We are really looking forward to seeing the designs that manufacturers come up with so that we can choose the best possible trains for our existing passengers and for future generations of Metro travellers.
“We expect the first trains to start arriving in late 2021.”
The procurement process starts with the publication of a formal notification in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). This is the publication in which all tenders from the public sector which are valued above a certain financial threshold according to EU legislation, must be published.
Nexus anticipates that the bidders will be shortlisted by the late summer of this year.
The winning bidder will be announced in 2019.
The first new trains are expected to arrive from the end of 2021.
The new Metro trains will arrive in stages. As each new train arrives an old one will be removed from service.
Nexus expects it will take two years for from late 2021 to completely replace the existing Metro fleet.
A Fleet maintenance contract will come into operation during 2020, covering the existing as well as the new fleet.
Wikilies suggests that it's actually 84 articulated trainsets, not 42. So just a badly worded release.
I assume there are depot reasons for this rather than ordering longer trains to run singly.
There are also some interesting traction / running capabilities that Nexus are considering - makes me wonder if we will see "off wire" Metro trains to Blyth or Ashington.
There's an article in February's Modern Railways confirming that the preference is to have through heavy rail service to Newcastle to give a faster journey time. The scheme includes a Metro interchange station at Northumberland Park.Outstabling of rolling stock shouldn’t be a major issue, with the new facility at South Shields providing some capacity with maintenance facilities, and St James being able to hold 8 cars, there is a good degree of flexibility across the system, although this could threaten reliably. As far as I’m aware, the Northumberland line is planned as a NR route, not Metro. Personally, we must remember Metro is a light rail system, with a high frequency service, it should not be the local branding for regional rail services, like to Ashington.
Are there any plans to preserve Metrocar 4001?
Do you know where 4001 is likely to be preserved, or if any other metrocars are likely to be preserved?There are, yes.
Personally, we must remember Metro is a light rail system, with a high frequency service, it should not be the local branding for regional rail services, like to Ashington.
A prime example is the service between Newcastle Central and Metrocentre - trains upto every 15 minutes, faster and with more capacity than the bus, and many of them run more or less empty!
That's more an issue with the bus companies than the branding of the MetroCentre shuttle though. Nexus inter-operator tickets are valid as far as Blaydon (although the Explorer is not). The issue is that a lot of people use operator-specific bus tickets. You won't pay for the train if your Stagecoach Megarider will get you there, no matter what branding it has.
Make Metro/NetworkOne tickets and Pop cards work in the barriers at Newcastle Central, and make National Rail tickets work in the barriers on Metro stations. Ensure that Northern conductors can either read Pop cards, or that a paper counterpart can be obtained from Nexus ticket machines, instead of having to go to the Travelshop.
I'd say with almost certainty that this will never happen, current signage at the stations is sufficient and a coherent branding throughout the station seems rather pointless, I also don't see the gains in integrated platform numbers.Longer term work towards branding the National Rail and Metro stations at Newcastle Central, Heworth and Sunderland as single entities, with contiguous platform numbers and way-finding.
Hacman, I do agree with the increasing of integration between Metro and Northern, although I wouldn't go as far as adding the shuttle to the Metro map as they are not integrated and that would cause major ticketing headaches with confused passengers believing that their ticket is valid at to Metro Centre or Blaydon. They would probably fall under the zone B category on current on train maps and therefore a major redesign would be required.
I agree with the ability to print a paper ticket companion to the Pop Card at any TVM, this would of course require the Pop Card number on the ticket and clearly expressed dates to ensure fare evasion doesn't occur, this must also only be valid on local rail services and subject to a penalty fare without provision of said pop card on the Metro network.
Integration of smart card systems is something the new TfN body is investigating; I'm not particularly sure if smart ticketing across the whole of the North is really beneficial or desirable when there are much bigger key challenges to tackle. I'm also assuming the barriers issue is probably quite technical and hard to do, but I'm no engineer! I do also wonder why Nexus doesn't have TVMs (or utilises) the smart card dispensing ability of the S&B machines; this would probably be much more influential in the uptake of PPAYG.
I'd say with almost certainty that this will never happen, current signage at the stations is sufficient and a coherent branding throughout the station seems rather pointless, I also don't see the gains in integrated platform numbers.
For me, the issue with Northern rail is the fact its branding has quite a poor reputation and their provision of local services is limited; people want quick and convenient and trains that aren't well past their sell by date and haven't even had a vanity refurbishment in attempt to hide this. The bus services between Newcastle and MetroCentre are in much more convenient locations for people and the bus services have a strong reputation, as well as outcompeting in terms of value for money if using other services to travel. As Northern begins to improve its brand image with its new rolling stock, and Metro consolidates its current operations with the new rolling stock, something must be reviewed in attempt to improve services to the MetroCentre, either through integration of the services or an actual Metro based solution.
The POP scheme is a whole different level of imbecilic. I have three different POP cards- one PAYG, one season, one corporate season. And that's before we think about the (lack of) integrated capping across different modes. Nexus couldn't even get the POP PAYG day all zones Metro cap to include ferry travel, so if you're going on the (fully integrated) ferry you're better off with a paper DaySaver.
As for the train, my (controversial) view is the MetroCentre shuttle is a waste of units, crew and money. I don't see it adds anything the bus doesn't. The purpose and the custom for the shuttle went when the Sunderland line mostly switched to Metro. Running the Morpeth stoppers through makes sense on a marginal cost basis, but that's it. The train is a bit faster to Central, although there's not that much in it compared to the 10, but if you're not off to Central (say, Eldon Square) the bus wins hands down.
No local person will use the train given they can’t use their bus tickets on it. It will never compete with the myriad of services. If you live in Newcastle and use public transport, your day ticket or megarider gets you on the 100 at no extra cost. The 100 uses a more central stop in the city centre, as well as a stop at Central Station. If you’re from North Tyneside, you can get through fares on Go North East services. If you’re from Northumberland, then it’s more complicated but given all the buses from there terminate in the north of the city centre at Haymarket, it’s still an unrealistic hike down to the station. The bus will always outcompete the train for locals. No amount of promotion will change that.