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Metrocar updates and withdrawals - Tyne & Wear Metro

bramling

bramling

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AlexNL said:
Fascinating to see that the Metrocars are still running.

Me and my girlfriend (both railfans from the continent) will be in the UK for a few days in the middle of August, hopefully the old trains will do some surprise trips by then. It might be worth for us to go up North for a day.
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ISTR it was suggested that the next (presumably final) scrap runs would be in August, however as the metrocars appear to be being required to maintain the service, it remains to be seen what will happen.

It isn’t entirely clear if they are being used out of necessity, or simply because they remain available and it is allowing work on the new fleet to take place.

In theory there should be ample new units to cover the daily diagrams now. Indeed we ought really to be at a point where the peak Monkseaton extras could be reintroduced, though I suspect that won’t happen as Nexus have got away with not running them for so long.
 
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7522

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Today (20th July) there were 2 trains missing for most of the day, 110 and 124, so that does suggest the metrocars are still needed to avoid cancellations (unless trains weren't running for another reason, but 124 was missing all day I think, and if it's driver resource it's usually just part of the diagram cancelled). It also suggests just the 4 units currently available, but I'm sure not all trains will be doing for scrap in August, as they are keeping a couple for RHTT at least this year.
 
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Big M

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bramling said:
ISTR it was suggested that the next (presumably final) scrap runs would be in August, however as the metrocars appear to be being required to maintain the service, it remains to be seen what will happen.

It isn’t entirely clear if they are being used out of necessity, or simply because they remain available and it is allowing work on the new fleet to take place.

In theory there should be ample new units to cover the daily diagrams now. Indeed we ought really to be at a point where the peak Monkseaton extras could be reintroduced, though I suspect that won’t happen as Nexus have got away with not running them for so long.
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Can someone in the know please explain why the old cars are still out on a very regular basis, when more than sufficient new cars to operate the service had been constructed months and months ago. Not that I am complaining.
 
Jamesrob637

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But how many now won't board, knowing there'll be a modern train with air conditioning a few minutes behind it?
 
D1537

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bramling said:
Depends how many people want to wait 12 minutes. Some might, but I suspect many won’t.
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The average journey length on the Metro is 5 miles. Most of those only going a few stops will just get on. Those taking a long journey (the minority in most cases) may wait.
 
P

Peter Sarf

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D1537 said:
The average journey length on the Metro is 5 miles. Most of those only going a few stops will just get on. Those taking a long journey (the minority in most cases) may wait.
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Personally I prefer to get on a tram/train/bus that exists rather than wait for one that might be cancelled or faulty.
 
bluegoblin7

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It was lovely to have a slight unexpected spin from South Gosforth through to South Hylton and back to Central tonight. Lightly loaded but with a few enthusiasts on board - a far cry from the 'last' trips a few weeks ago! Much more like I remember them from my first solo trip to the Toon around fifteen years ago.

Thanks to those at Nexus for making it happen.
 
D

DGH 1

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Big M said:
Can someone in the know please explain why the old cars are still out on a very regular basis, when more than sufficient new cars to operate the service had been constructed months and months ago. Not that I am complaining.
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The Stadler units still suffer "teething" troubles on a regular basis and have to be taken out of service for repair.
 
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EYFanatic

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Subject to the usual things of not knowing day to day what happens, I wonder if I can get a last ride in from Monument to Percy Main this week
 
StoneRoad

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DGH 1 said:
The Stadler units still suffer "teething" troubles on a regular basis and have to be taken out of service for repair.
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Trying to prevent / reduce that was one of the reasons for the mileage run up on 4001/2 at the Middle Engine Lane teat track ---
 
Jamesrob637

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DGH 1 said:
The Stadler units still suffer "teething" troubles on a regular basis and have to be taken out of service for repair.
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Metro should count their lucky stars or whatever the expression is, that they've still got a few old cars. Had the scrap firm not gone bust, they'd all be gone by now barring the RHTT ones.
 
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Big M

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DGH 1 said:
The Stadler units still suffer "teething" troubles on a regular basis and have to be taken out of service for repair.
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Half the fleet being non operational after this length of time is much more than just teething problems. Surely we are into unreliability and not meeting the obligations of the contract territory.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

And what makes it relevant to this forum is that so few of the old trams have been retained in order to cover the lack of availability of the new ones. There is a lack of joined up thinking here.
 
D

DGH 1

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Big M said:
Half the fleet being non operational after this length of time is much more than just teething problems. Surely we are into unreliability and not meeting the obligations of the contract territory.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==

And what makes it relevant to this forum is that so few of the old trams have been retained in order to cover the lack of availability of the new ones. There is a lack of joined up thinking here.
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You may be right, hence the inverted commas.
 
D1537

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Big M said:
Half the fleet being non operational after this length of time is much more than just teething problems. Surely we are into unreliability and not meeting the obligations of the contract territory.
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Not if this is (as it appears to be) one specific fault which appeared well after the fleet was operational, and is currently being dealt with.

No different than (for example) the IEPs with their suspension cracks.
 
7522

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Does anyone know is it just these 4 cars now? Rest withdrawn?
 
B

Big M

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And the fault is?
D1537 said:
Not if this is (as it appears to be) one specific fault which appeared well after the fleet was operational, and is currently being dealt with.

No different than (for example) the IEPs with their suspension cracks.
Click to expand...
 
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