46 555s for Metro

Thursday 13th March 2025

The long awaited smart new Class 555 trains for the Tyne & Wear Metro are slowly entering service and I was fortunate to have a guided tour of one of the new fleet on a visit kindly hosted by Nexus as part of the Young Bus Professionals conference held recently in Newcastle.

Unsurprisingly the Stadler built trains offer a significant improvement for passengers, drivers and control staff compared to the current Class 599 fleet which is well passed its sell-by date being designed for a 30 year life but now aged 45, having entered service in 1980. With spare parts for the old trains increasingly difficult, or even impossible to obtain, the urgency to get the new fleet into service is obvious. But drivers have to be trained and newly delivered trains need to accumulate extensive pre-service test mileage which all adds to the logistical challenges especially as, once trained, drivers need to keep their hand in to maintain competency to drive the new fleet.

The new fleet comprises 46 trains representing an investment of £362 million. So far 15 trains have been delivered to Nexus and the hope is around half the new fleet will be in service by the end of this year with the transformation complete by the end of 2026. A new depot has been built at Gosforth where the fleet will be maintained by Stadler.

As is now the standard practice on new ‘suburban style’ train fleets, the Class 555’s five coaches are ‘walk through’…

…and, as with trains on London Overground, they have longitudinal seating throughout to maximise standing space and overall capacity.

I’m sure passengers will miss the more traditional layout of seating…

… not least the much sought after double seat at the front…

… where passengers could take their turn at pretend driving (à la DLR) right next to the half cab arrangement for the driver.

But things move on and the cramped conditions for the driver in those old cabs…

… will now be a thing of the past with a hugely improved full width layout and a multitude of technology, screens and communications equipment befitting for modern times.

For the passenger there’s a smart new moquette with lighter colouring to denote seats close to the doors for those with accessibility needs.

There’s also four designated spaces for wheelchairs (two in each of coaches two and four)….

… as well as four spaces designated for cycles and buggies (two each in coaches one and three).

There isn’t colour coding on the exterior to indicate which coach contains these facilities, as is common on many commuter trains on National Rail, but I’m sure regular passengers will get used to where to wait on the platforms. All told, there are 104 seats and an overall capacity of 600 compared to 64 seats and 188 standing passengers on a two coach Class 599 train making for an overall capacity of 504 on an existing four coach train.

Passenger information screens above side windows show, to what’s becoming a standard layout, the next few stations (which is updated during the journey) and the terminal point…

… as well as updated loading information for each coach.

There are also information screens at the ends of each coach which can display messages from the driving cab such as skipping the next station.

There are also network maps displayed for passengers unfamiliar with the network.

The drivers cab has screens to show the status of the train’s electrical systems and other information…

…a list of pre-recorded announcements which can be enacted as well as two radio systems (one being the GSM-R network used on those sections of Network Rail lines.

The screen to the left of the radio equipment is also used to display the platform with images from side mounted cameras along the length of the train thus removing the need for mirrors and screens on the platforms.

The trains come with the Stadler retractable step at each door making for convenient level boarding where Nexus has been busy enhancing platforms to make this effective.

… with another improvement for passengers being the availability of usb charging sockets where arm rests are in place on the longitudinal seats.

Each train also has one of four designs commissioned from local artists to brighten up the ends of coaches one and five by the internal door to the driver’s cab.

I’m sure passengers will love travelling on these new trains as more are introduced during the coming months. They’re a much welcome improvement on the trains they’re replacing.

This investment is part of a much wider “asset renewal programme” which has seen 65 kilometers of track renewed or refurbished and a similar amount of overhead line fitted, 35 stations refurbished, 27 new escalators and 12 new lifts, and 62 bridges repaired and 3 replaced.

It’s a lot of money, but it is nice to see welcome investment in Tyne & Wear.

Roger French

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