00:00The latest delivery brings the total number of new Metro trains on Tyneside to 17, with 16 more set to follow this year.
00:08The 16th and 17th units in the 46-strong fleet rolled into the Metro's Gosfath depot in the early hours of Friday morning,
00:15marking another key milestone in what is the largest investment in the network's 44-year history.
00:21Metro operator Nexus confirmed on Friday that despite the scale of the operation, the rollout remains firmly on track.
00:27The authority still expects to have half of the new fleet in service by the end of 2025, and all 46 trains running by the end of 2026.
00:37Since the first of the new trains began carrying passengers in December 2023, the rollout has steadily progressed.
00:43As of now, five of the high-tech vehicles are operating on the Metro's weekday timetable, with one also running on weekends.
00:50These new trains currently serve both the yellow and green lines, and are expected to become an increasingly common site over the coming months.
00:59Paul Welford, Major Projects Director at Nexus, said that the rollout has been progressing well, saying,
01:05Customers will have started to notice that more new trains are operating on the system.
01:11These new trains are transformative in terms of comfort, quality, security, and reliability.
01:16This is the biggest project in Metro's history, and the introduction of new trains is a culmination of many months of detailed testing and commissioning on our network.
01:26Training of Metro drivers is also progressing in parallel with the vehicle rollout.
01:32So far, 76 of the 200-strong driver workforce are fully qualified to operate the new units, with over 80 having completed the intensive training programme to date.
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