Tyne and Wear Metro’s depot’s new train stabling area is completed and energised

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The first sections of new sidings have been completed at Gosforth Metro depot as part of the ongoing £70m project to completely rebuild it.

A new stabling area has been created on the site, and the first test trains have been successfully run in.

These tracks will be used to serve the new depot and park the new trains when they start to arrive in 2023.

The completion of these sidings, knows as ‘stabling roads’, paves the way for further demolition work on the existing depot building, which is 100 years-old.

Nexus Project Manager, Stephen Bowles, said: “I’m delighted to say the first new train stabling area has been completed as part the Gosforth depot project.

“They have installed more than a kilometre of new track, ballast and overhead lines in this phase of the work. A test train was successfully taken into these sidings, which will serve the new depot and stable the current Metro fleet while we transition to the new one.

“The next step is the second phase of demolition work on the current depot buildings that remain on site, the commencement of the new maintenance building is progressing, and we can also expect to see the steel structure erected and construction  progressed over coming months.”

Nexus, the public body which own and manages Metro, will transition between the old depot and the new depot in phases by 2024.

Stadler, the Swiss train builder, is delivering the new Metro train fleet on behalf of Nexus, and appointed VolkerFitzpatrick to build the depot. Stadler took over maintenance of the old fleet in October last year and will look after the new Metro trains for 35 years.

Stadler is building a total of 46 new Metro trains for Nexus, which will be delivered up to 2024. They will be responsible for servicing and maintaining these trains for 35 years, underscoring their commitment to the regional economy.

The new trains, which will be 15 times more reliable and will cut energy consumption by 30%, will have modern features including charging points, air conditioning and a step-change in accessibility.

Among the 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.

People can get all the latest updates on the project by downloading the VolkerFitzpatrick app. The app is available to download for both Android and Apple devices. To download the app, simply scan the QR code or search ‘Gosforth Depot’ in Google Play for Android devices, or the App Store for Apple devices.

The demolition of Gosforth Metro depot is being carried out by Thompsons of Prudhoe.

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