Tyne and Wear Metro frequency increase

[stan claire]

An Instagram post by Kim McGuinness says that all 599s will be withdrawn this summer and then an increase in frequency in December, presumably at the NR timetable change

https://www.instagram.com/p/DY7SqXDjBDw

December 2026 - More frequent services at your station

No doubt this is the 10-minute headways (outside the core line) they proposed in the past but how many units would they need to be able to run trains more frequently than that without it causing issues with the shared NR section? There's 46 555 sets but only 28 diagrams (50% of the fleet) so surely with the increase in reliability with the new fleet and after the signalling upgrades they could have a lot more diagrams in use

 

[Segedunum]

Considering you now have 2tph on Northern, plus Grand Central empties, plus freight, you're already pushing it for how many more services you can get down the Sunderland Line. Considerable work has gone on behind the scenes to get a sixth train in every hour, which is the maximum Nexus have the right to run on Network Rail metals. South Hylton is also a single-platform terminus with a minimum four-minute turnaround and a fairly hefty junction margin for the section to be cleared.

Then we move to the South Shields line, which also has a single platform terminus. You need a minimum four minute turnaround plus 1.5 minute junction margin to clear the section (IIRC) so you'd struggle to get many more trains in. Even then in doing so you'd endanger punctuality and trash resilience post-disruption or any delay whatsoever (7.5min is what is managed on Great North Run day and that's planned with the assumption that punctuality goes out the window and you just move as many people as possible).

The most you'd be likely to see are additionals between Pelaw-Regent Centre/Monkseaton if demand warrants it. It's not a matter of the trains either, you would need to recruit more drivers beyond the ones currently being recruited (which are to allow for the 6tph uplift).

So in a nutshell, bordering on impossible running even more Sunderland services (with the exception of ad-hoc additionals for things like special events), highly unlikely to South Shields and impossible without damaging resilience, unlikely but not impossible for the core section.

Finally - 28 is a bit more than 50% of 46...

 

[stan claire]

Finally - 28 is a bit more than 50% of 46...

oh i'm an idiot, i forgot 50% is 24 not 28

 

[marsker]

AIUI the metro cars don't have heavy rail standards of crash protection so need special arrangements between Pelaw and Sunderland with double blocking.
At a meeting when the new sets had just been ordered, I asked about this and was told that they have tram-train standards of protection so I assume that the special arrangements can be discontinued. That will help to Sunderland but still leaves the problem at South Shields.

 

[Failed Unit]

I remember years got the Metro was effectively 4 routes. But I can’t remember the frequency.

Green - South Shields - Airport
Yellow - Pelaw - St James via coast
Red - Pelaw - Benton
Blue - St James - North Shields.

If a recall this gave a more frequent service on the Core then we have today, but less frequent outside the core.

 

[A S Leib]

I remember years got the Metro was effectively 4 routes. But I can’t remember the frequency.

Green - South Shields - Airport
Yellow - Pelaw - St James via coast
Red - Pelaw - Benton
Blue - St James - North Shields.

If a recall this gave a more frequent service on the Core then we have today, but less frequent outside the core.

The March 1985 timetable had eighteen tph between Heworth and South Gosforth, formed of 6 tph each South Shields – Bank Foot, Heworth – Benton and Heworth – St. James (and an extra 6 tph between North Shields and St. James).

 

[Killingworth]

The March 1985 timetable had eighteen tph between Heworth and South Gosforth, formed of 6 tph each South Shields – Bank Foot, Heworth – Benton and Heworth – St. James (and an extra 6 tph between North Shields and St. James).

Near enough every 3 minutes which was how they captured such high levels of ridership.

 

[HfdNcl]

From what I can work out, for ten minute frequency to operate, the Green Line requires 14 diagrams and the Yellow Line 18 diagrams (depending on turn around times and superior acceleration compared to the 599s), so 32 diagrams in total.

Assuming that the 555s have a 90% availability (so 41.4 units available out of 46), this leaves 9 units for additional 'short' services.

8 units could operate an all day service between Pelaw and Monkseaton, providing a 3-4 minute service through the 'core' and 4-6 minute service between South Gosforth and Monkseaton.

 

[ModernRailways]

From what I can work out, for ten minute frequency to operate, the Green Line requires 14 diagrams and the Yellow Line 18 diagrams (depending on turn around times and superior acceleration compared to the 599s), so 32 diagrams in total.

Assuming that the 555s have a 90% availability (so 41.4 units available out of 46), this leaves 9 units for additional 'short' services.

8 units could operate an all day service between Pelaw and Monkseaton, providing a 3-4 minute service through the 'core' and 4-6 minute service between South Gosforth and Monkseaton.

10 minute frequency on both lines has always been the aim. That should happen from Dec 26, depending on the unit reliability - I believe it is all submitted to Network Rail though.

Theoretically you could squeeze a higher frequency if you turn some trains back at different locations or you introduce additional crewing locations/relieving points - stepping back at South Hylton and South Shields for example. Like has been mentioned, doing so erodes any sort of service recovery and we don’t have the passenger numbers for this.
What should be done is a 10 minute frequency, but reinstating the peak additionals from Regent Centre-Pelaw and ideally Monkseaton-Pelaw also. This was part of the plan in the past but when they kept cutting the timetable due to the old (still a weird thing to type) fleet reliability it seems like some of the bosses have just sort of accepted now that they’re gone and so who needs them. We really need to increase ridership, and one of way of doing so is to be able to say a train every 2.5/3 minutes at peak times like we used to have.

 

[geoffk]

Did the order for class 555 allow for future extension of the Metro to Washington?

 

[Segedunum]

10 minute frequency on both lines has always been the aim. That should happen from Dec 26, depending on the unit reliability - I believe it is all submitted to Network Rail though.

All submitted a good while ago to the usual LTP (Long Term Planning) timescales.

 

[dang1989]

Did the order for class 555 allow for future extension of the Metro to Washington?

They’ll need another new fleet by the time that happens (if it happens at all) I’d be surprised if we get 25 years out of the 555’s

 

[swt_passenger]

Did the order for class 555 allow for future extension of the Metro to Washington?

No. I believe it did get a slight increase to allow for the doubling of the South Shields route, and the increases to 6 tph, ie the Metro Flow project. Washington was an idea that came later and would need more stock, unless of course they downgrade the line frequencies again, like they did back when Sunderland opened.

 

[ModernRailways]

Did the order for class 555 allow for future extension of the Metro to Washington?

Officially no, but as with the previous extension it wouldn’t surprise me if they use what they have. They do have provision to order more units for the extension.