T&W Metro incident at Pelaw 04/11/15

[James_D]

Anyone on here affected by the incident on the Metro last night? A South Shields bound working had left Pelaw and had damaged the points at the apex of the bridge over the Network Rail lines just after Heworth.

A colleague of mine was on the Metro that broke down and it seems the crew/staff initial thought it was an electrification problem and tried to turn the multiple on and off repeatedly. Eventually the rear Metrocar was able to be started up and pulled the formation back to Pelaw. But seems like this caused fairly standard 2-3 hour delays for everyone travelling South out of Newcastle city centre.

Seems daft when there was no derailment, and there were several Metro's immediately behind the broken down one which could have been paired in multiple and pulled it back to Pelaw after discharging the passengers at Pelaw itself. That and it highlights that there are no Loco's which could have been dispatched to clear it. Am i right in thinking that their battery powered Hunslet service loco's would not have been powerful enough to pull a Metrocar?

This is all just the tip of the iceberg anyway. Aside from the points damage last night, there seems to be train failures on an almost daily basis. Yes the Metrocar fleet has recently been refurbished but given that it's a 35 year old design, are they not just flogging a dead horse and they need replacing. Even the Pacers aren't that old and look at the grief they get!

For those interested there's a petition to get the Goverment to look at this issue - https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/vote-of-no-confidence-in-nexus-and-twita - Some of the stated issues arent actually true (e.g no barriers working) but generally I think the Government needs to look at this. I got a bloody warning at work for being late due to the problems!

 

[BestWestern]

Well, the Underground manages with similarly aged stock which has incredibly intensive use, and of course Merseyrail have 70's vintage EMUs on a similar sort of network to T&W. Are there any common issues which recur where failures are concerned? Could it even be something caused by the refurb work, which isn't an unknown scenario, or had the reliability always been poor in recent years?

As an aside, I do love the sort of clueless managers who gormlessly dish out warnings for lateness despite the cause having been quite obviously beyond the control of the person concerned. What action exactly is one supposed to take upon receiving such a disciplinary?! Promise that the Metro won't be disrupted again for the next six months?! Idiot management at its very best!

 

[glbotu]

The issue is that the Tyne and Wear Metro stock is of a MUCH lower build quality. They're basically trams, rather than trains, they just happen not to run on-street.

The trains were stripped down to their frames and corroded bodywork was replaced, extending their service life by another ten years.

The trains have been brought up to the Government’s required standard on accessibility. Metro is the first train fleet in the UK to reach this standard.

New seating and lighting has been installed, along with a new carriage lay out to afford more space for wheelchair users.

The Metro trains have also got vibrant new colour scheme, with a sleek metallic grey and black finish, incorporating the iconic bright yellow brand livery of the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The train door control systems have been replaced and a new and improved door opening and closing sounder has been installed, to give passengers more warning and limit the number of people boarding the trains at the last minute and obstructing the doors.

A new call-for-aid system has also been installed to allow passengers to contact the driver in emergencies, such as a passenger being taken ill. There is also new lighting at each of the doorways on board to illuminate the door edge and help passengers get on and off at stations safely.

Metro train fleet refurbishment is completed

Other than replacing corroded bodywork, the refurbishment was all cosmetic/passenger facing. No new traction packages or anything like that. Compare this to the Manchester Metrolink or DLR, no-one else is running 30 year old trams. Heavy Rail vehicles have a longer lifespan.

 

[James_D]

Well, the Underground manages with similarly aged stock which has incredibly intensive use, and of course Merseyrail have 70's vintage EMUs on a similar sort of network to T&W. Are there any common issues which recur where failures are concerned? Could it even be something caused by the refurb work, which isn't an unknown scenario, or had the reliability always been poor in recent years?

As an aside, I do love the sort of clueless managers who gormlessly dish out warnings for lateness despite the cause having been quite obviously beyond the control of the person concerned. What action exactly is one supposed to take upon receiving such a disciplinary?! Promise that the Metro won't be disrupted again for the next six months?! Idiot management at its very best!

Exactly! and on each occasion i'd emailed in advance to notify them of the delay AND stayed to make up the time.

I have to admit my ignorance as to the common causes of the repeated train failures, as they rarely give anymore detail on announcements/social media other than 'Train Failure at X station'. Their communications setup is absolutely shocking. I even noticed last night they periodically delete their tweets then re-post them to get rid of the masses of abuse they receive from Joe Public to each tweet.

 

[edwin_m]

The issue is that the Tyne and Wear Metro stock is of a MUCH lower build quality. They're basically trams, rather than trains, they just happen not to run on-street.

Other than replacing corroded bodywork, the refurbishment was all cosmetic/passenger facing. No new traction packages or anything like that. Compare this to the Manchester Metrolink or DLR, no-one else is running 30 year old trams. Heavy Rail vehicles have a longer lifespan.

Blackpool still has 80-year-old Balloon cars available for service though not frequently used since the recent upgrade. And many cities on the Continent operate fleets from the 60s or before in daily service. Those in more affluent countries like Germany were sold further east when displaced by low-floor vehicles, and probably have many years life in them yet. A fleet of trams dating from 1950 is still in use in Rome.

So just because it's a tram doesn't necessarily mean it wears out more quickly.

 

[142094]

The battery locos are more than capable of hauling any Metrocar set. Reason they were not used is the fact that it is difficult getting the staff in the right place to get one from the depot, and even then they would have to slot it in between normal service trains.

The reason for the failure and disruption is under investigation so I'll not comment on that bit.

 

[James_D]

The battery locos are more than capable of hauling any Metrocar set. Reason they were not used is the fact that it is difficult getting the staff in the right place to get one from the depot, and even then they would have to slot it in between normal service trains.

The reason for the failure and disruption is under investigation so I'll not comment on that bit.

Cheers, useful insight! Are there not staff on call, or pre-positioned at the depot that can operate the battery loco's as and when needed? I appreciate that its difficult to thread a loco through the system using switching points to get past standing/oncoming trains but surely this would have been quicker than waiting for an hour trying to get failed train working again? Even if the failed train had got running again before the service loco could reach it, surely it could have put into the sidings at Pelaw?

I appreciate it's difficult to run an intensively used light rail system with 35yr old rolling stock on a tight system, but this situation happens often enough to have some better contingency planning in place than there is now. It almost seems as if Nexus' responses to a crisis are totally ad-hoc and just 'winging it', and it's been like this for some time now. Any rational person would think a company would learn lessons from previous breakdowns/mistakes.

 

[glbotu]

Blackpool still has 80-year-old Balloon cars available for service though not frequently used since the recent upgrade. And many cities on the Continent operate fleets from the 60s or before in daily service. Those in more affluent countries like Germany were sold further east when displaced by low-floor vehicles, and probably have many years life in them yet. A fleet of trams dating from 1950 is still in use in Rome.

So just because it's a tram doesn't necessarily mean it wears out more quickly.

Blackpool's heritage service is not exactly intensive, furthermore, I'd assume the heritage fleet doesn't get significant "special treatment". Much like many heritage railways manage to operate very life expired Steam Locomotives from the 20s, with lots of TLC.

I was unaware of Rome's 65 year old tram fleet though? How intensive is the Rome tram service. My (admittedly limited) memory of it is that it operates more like a bus service than anything else.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It almost seems as if Nexus' responses to a crisis are totally ad-hoc and just 'winging it', and it's been like this for some time now. Any rational person would think a company would learn lessons from previous breakdowns/mistakes.

Maintenance of the Metrocars has nothing to do with Nexus, that is the responsibility of DB Regio. DB Regio's record of adequate maintenance of the trains they operate isn't exactly spotless; they had over half their Berlin S-Bahn fleet grounded on safety grounds in 2009 because they weren't carrying out basic maintenance on the wheels due to cost.

The reliability of the Metrocars wasn't this bad before the network was privatised, although admittedly the Metrocars weren't used quite as intensively as they are now. And other cities, e.g. Brussels, Hamburg, are using similar light Metro trains that are as old without the same issues.

 

[142094]

There are maintenance staff at the depot at most times of the day and staff on call at other times. However, maintenance staff cannot drive the battery locos outside the depot limits. Some Metro drivers are trained to drive the locos but not all, and they may well have been stuck on trains themselves.

A 2 car set can be recovered by another 2 car set and then dragged out of the way. However, certain faults can transfer across and make the situation worse.

What shouldn't be forgotten is the fact that Nexus hold the purse strings. If Nexus wanted to spend more money on Metroxar maintenance they could do so. The 3/4 life refurbishment was specified by Nexus, so they could have refurbished the undercarriage as well at the same time. Instead they went for the cheaper option of making the interior look pretty but neglected everything else. There is also currently an exodus of staff out of the depot and the company in general which gives an idea of the current working conditions.

 

[DarloRich]

The battery locos are more than capable of hauling any Metrocar set. Reason they were not used is the fact that it is difficult getting the staff in the right place to get one from the depot, and even then they would have to slot it in between normal service trains.

The reason for the failure and disruption is under investigation so I'll not comment on that bit.

going to be fun moving a battery loco from Gosforth to Pelaw at peak times and without a clear route!

 

[TailLight]

I would argue that the age of the stock really is not a problem. Pacers were designed cheaply as a stopgap, a barebones bus body on 2 axles. How long does a bus last? Well in London it is about 7 years. Proper rail stock can easily last 50 years or more with some refurbishments and upgrades.

 

[edwin_m]

I was unaware of Rome's 65 year old tram fleet though? How intensive is the Rome tram service. My (admittedly limited) memory of it is that it operates more like a bus service than anything else.

At risk of going off-topic, yes it is pretty chaotic with no tram priority and quite a lot of bunching. The new route 8 may be an exception - the one I didn't have time to visit as it took so long to do the others! About half the service on some routes is the Stanga trams from 1950ish (interspersed with newer low-floor trams) but I don't know how many are available or what proportion are used. However the Metro fleet was and I think still is also big enough to give some slack.

 

[142094]

going to be fun moving a battery loco from Gosforth to Pelaw at peak times and without a clear route!

At one point last night there were about 15 trains between South Gosforth and Pelaw stuck waiting to turn back, which would have taken a few hours to do.

 

[glbotu]

At one point last night there were about 15 trains between South Gosforth and Pelaw stuck waiting to turn back, which would have taken a few hours to do.

I think an additional problem for them there was the timing.

There's ample opportunities to turn trains back earlier than Pelaw (south of South Gosforth, north of Jesmond, north of Monument, north of Gateshead Stadium, north of Heworth), but that wouldn't help, because the vast majority of people travel on the central core and in the peak, any terminating north of Pelaw would result in chaos, partly due to the awful PIS/CIS that can't seem to deal with anything but right time running, but generally because the metrocars are all rammed at that time of day.

Based on what I can see into the depot, at peak times they've barely got any metrocars left. I think the vast majority of them are required to run the peak service.

 

[142094]

Normal weekday service requires 78 cars, or 39 sets. 12 of these are used on Airport - Hylton runs and 15 are used for St. James - South Shields. 12 sets are needed for peak hour Pelaw trains both in the morning and evening.

So that leaves 12 cars out for routine maintenance, exams and spares. However, if one of the unrefurbished cars is not used for service then that means one set is missing. Recently 4083 has been stopped so in reality there are 10 cars/5 spare sets at any one time.