Tyne & Wear Metro: Fleet Refurbishment List

[Paul_10]

Has anyone notice that 'The Coast' has been disappearing around the network? For example http://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/files/Zone Map TVM Map_2.pdf

Also at Northumberland Park platform 2 it now only says 'Whitley Bay'

Personally, we should keep 'the Coast'

I wonder why the change, are you saying the platform indicators are now displaying the train heading to Whitley Bay? Seems rather mis-leading if that is the case.

I remember when the newer PIS(not the ones you see at the underground stations) used to display trains terminating at Tynemouth for some bizarre reason when infact they were heading to St James'. I agree also it should remain as 'The Coast' as if you start stating it will head to a specific station, people who are not familiar with the Metro may get confused and we know some passengers get confused rather easily.

 

[MetroCar4058]

I wonder why the change, are you saying the platform indicators are now displaying the train heading to Whitley Bay? Seems rather mis-leading if that is the case.

I remember when the newer PIS(not the ones you see at the underground stations) used to display trains terminating at Tynemouth for some bizarre reason when infact they were heading to St James'. I agree also it should remain as 'The Coast' as if you start stating it will head to a specific station, people who are not familiar with the Metro may get confused and we know some passengers get confused rather easily.

Its all linked to that new ***** of a voice on the units. I don't think some of the units coming back actually have him. It needs to be ambiguous or say St James.
For me around the coast it should read South Shields after Tynemouth and everything else should read 'The Coast'

On another note, reliability seems to have improved recently, which is good as the network is a beauty when its running smoothly.

 

[ModernRailways]

Has anyone notice that 'The Coast' has been disappearing around the network? For example http://www.nexus.org.uk/sites/default/files/Zone Map TVM Map_2.pdf

Also at Northumberland Park platform 2 it now only says 'Whitley Bay'

Personally, we should keep 'the Coast'

'The Coast' is very much still a thing. The map linked, is the map used on TVMs, not the actual Metro map seen in stations.

All stations have only ever said actual stations (usually Whitley Bay/Wallsend). The odd one has 'The Coast' but it's never been common on signage.

 

[Techniquest]

Really? I've seen it rather common on February's visit to the area for almost all trains from Central Station and around the top of the loop (on board, on station PIS and on station announcements) to say 'the train now approaching platform X is for the coast'.

 

[ModernRailways]

Really? I've seen it rather common on February's visit to the area for almost all trains from Central Station and around the top of the loop (on board, on station PIS and on station announcements) to say 'the train now approaching platform X is for the coast'.

At Central Station, all trains from Platform 2 say 'This train is for Newcastle'. They do list the trains as there actual destinations though when they're just showing when the next train is.

But no, nothing has changed. And The Coast is still a thing and will be for the foreseeable future.

 

[Techniquest]

Rightly so too, why change what works?

Glad to not be hearing almost daily of problems on the network lately on here, although I still see the occasional tweet from Metro. I was hoping to return to Newcastle this year and visit the remaining stations that I need, and obviously try and clear out more of the remaining units I need, but that looks insanely unlikely now. Far too much to do around the rest of the country!

 

[ModernRailways]

Glad to not be hearing almost daily of problems on the network lately on here, although I still see the occasional tweet from Metro.

I haven't really been on here for the past few days (been busy at work with Easter). Now you mention it. I may as well let you all know what's happened.

Jarrow to Kingston Park took 4 trains the other day. It should take 2. First train failed at Pelaw and was taken out of service. My train to Airport then had a window that decided it wanted to fall out. Literally, the window seal was broke and the window was flapping around resulting in the train being removed service. It was one of the newer refurbished sets too.

Today, a few trains have been removed. And then finally to top it off the power was off at South Hylton as the wires were damaged. Mind, Metro made no mention of that one...

 

[Techniquest]

Know what you mean with work at Easter, I've got one more day of Easter to suffer then we're slowly climbing out of the ditch and go back to normal for 3 days.

You clearly didn't have a good day on the Metro there!

 

[MetroCar4058]

I'm glad to know we are keeping the Coast.

I must admit it has been quieter on the Metro Facebook page, but hopefully the next passenger charter will show an improvement in reliability. It doesn't surprise me that some of our units are struggling, they get allot of abuse, especially on the yellow line!

4018 had a broken door today, one of the buttons was NIS and the trail unit, 4024 had doors isolated, not good!

Also is 4001 in the wars? Shes been stuck by herself at the depot for quite some time, although I did see her rolling today.

 

[Paul_10]

Unfortunately the realiability have not gone away and with the age of the metrocars, don't expect this to change however take social media away then most people would experience an uneventful an journey so we have to bear this in mind although Modernrailways journey he described is clearly the exception to the rule!

One of the reasons 4001 is out of service is because it does not have a pairing partner and I'm not sure if a unit has gone down to Donny this week or not(if one has, it be either 4025 or 4085 as I have seen the other units in service) but hopefully it will return to service because the refurbishment programme is almost upon us now so the prototypes actual daily day service will soon be over.

I also like to add has anyone seen 4067 lately? I have only seen this unit just the once and this was a couple of months ago now when it was paired with 4053, the pairing was only brief and I have not seen it since.

 

[ModernRailways]

Unfortunately the realiability have not gone away and with the age of the metrocars, don't expect this to change however take social media away then most people would experience an uneventful an journey so we have to bear this in mind although Modernrailways journey he described is clearly the exception to the rule!

One of the reasons 4001 is out of service is because it does not have a pairing partner and I'm not sure if a unit has gone down to Donny this week or not(if one has, it be either 4025 or 4085 as I have seen the other units in service) but hopefully it will return to service because the refurbishment programme is almost upon us now so the prototypes actual daily day service will soon be over.

I also like to add has anyone seen 4067 lately? I have only seen this unit just the once and this was a couple of months ago now when it was paired with 4053, the pairing was only brief and I have not seen it since.

Oh social media definitely emphasises *some* of the delays! However, a lot of delays also go unreported so I'd say it's a toss up tbh. If it's the peaks they tend to emphasise delays, off-peak isn't cared about as much.

I haven't come to think of it! It didn't go for refurb did it? IIRC, I think it went down late February?

 

[tez thorn]

4067 went for refurb in december, a unit was due back this week im sure of it cus if I can recall one left

this time last year (think it was 4039), so it will be either 4025 or 4085 that has gone which means that

4077 must have returned

 

[MetroCar4058]

I've noticed that the newer units don't have bleed air vents at the front of the units (under front chair) whereas the original ones do have them - is this from the original build or is it cuts to the refurbishment? looks like 4041 and her counterparts had a much better deal to be honest.

Regarding the heating is it set in the A and B end or is it just in one unit? 4034A was boiling however the B end was freezing!

 

[Paul_10]

I've noticed that the newer units don't have bleed air vents at the front of the units (under front chair) whereas the original ones do have them - is this from the original build or is it cuts to the refurbishment? looks like 4041 and her counterparts had a much better deal to be honest.

Regarding the heating is it set in the A and B end or is it just in one unit? 4034A was boiling however the B end was freezing!

The aircon units were originally fitted to replace the air vent/grill near the bottom on the driver side at the front of the unit(you will see trains with the air con boxes have the grill covered up although 4049A looks a bit strange atm) however apparently the drivers disliked them so after 4049 was refurbished, no more was fitted. I have to say I personally think the air con boxes look ugly to say the least.

Just to note that 4090 also had an air con box but this was removed after its incident last August, whether other units will have them removed remains to be seen.

Just to confirm it appears no units left last week as I seen the last 2 remaining red units in service today.

 

[ModernRailways]

The aircon units were originally fitted to replace the air vent/grill near the bottom on the driver side at the front of the unit(you will see trains with the air con boxes have the grill covered up although 4049A looks a bit strange atm) however apparently the drivers disliked them so after 4049 was refurbished, no more was fitted. I have to say I personally think the air con boxes look ugly to say the least.

Just to note that 4090 also had an air con box but this was removed after its incident last August, whether other units will have them removed remains to be seen.

Just to confirm it appears no units left last week as I seen the last 2 remaining red units in service today.

Drivers didn't dislike them. That was just a rumour that was spread (started by a certain someone), the reason they were stopped was purely on the fact of cost. It wasn't a necessity (same as passenger counters) and so was one of the many things removed from the refurb spec.

4090 still has it's air con box? The B end cabs don't have the box so it could be because it's been going around B end first?

4027 is paired with 4083 atm too

 

[MetroCar4058]

Drivers didn't dislike them. That was just a rumour that was spread (started by a certain someone), the reason they were stopped was purely on the fact of cost. It wasn't a necessity (same as passenger counters) and so was one of the many things removed from the refurb spec.

4090 still has it's air con box? The B end cabs don't have the box so it could be because it's been going around B end first?

4027 is paired with 4083 atm too

I'm talking about air vents under the chairs, on the older refurbs there is one at the front of the cab under the first set of chairs whereas there is not one on the newer refurbs. (might be the other way around refurb wise)

So did they remove the air grill on the older refurbs in favor of the overhead and then reverted to the old method on the newer ones? That said 4081 was lacking grills at the A and the trailer unit (haven't a clue) had a vent at the B end.

So what is now not included that previously was in the spec:

• Passenger Counters
• Aircon box
• Window works
• Air vents under chairs

What else have I missed? Bound to be allot lol

 

[142094]

4001 is sitting spare at the depot. 4067 should be on 147 this morning with 4029.

 

[Paul_10]

Drivers didn't dislike them. That was just a rumour that was spread (started by a certain someone), the reason they were stopped was purely on the fact of cost. It wasn't a necessity (same as passenger counters) and so was one of the many things removed from the refurb spec.

4090 still has it's air con box? The B end cabs don't have the box so it could be because it's been going around B end first?

4027 is paired with 4083 atm too

Nope, it was taken away after the incident in August, I believe Tramfan reported this in the thread at the time. No idea why it was removed though.

 

[142094]

Air vents underneath the seats are where the heat comes from - waste heat from the motors when braking. B ends are normally the warmer end of the two, although unclear why. Both A and B ends have traction motors.

The air con units on the top of the A ends were only for the driver's cab, but the size of them you could have probably used them for the whole car!

 

[MetroCar4058]

Air vents underneath the seats are where the heat comes from - waste heat from the motors when braking. B ends are normally the warmer end of the two, although unclear why. Both A and B ends have traction motors.

The air con units on the top of the A ends were only for the driver's cab, but the size of them you could have probably used them for the whole car!

It still poses the question as to why there are vents under the front (and back seat) of some units and not others, Was this an original feature or part of the Wabtec Woes?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Does anyone know when 4007 came back?

 

[ModernRailways]

4025 is en route to Doncaster. Not sure what unit returned though

 

[Tramfan]

4026 should be the one returning if I'm right

Only 6 unrefurbished left now, and only 2 more to go to Wabtec:

4001, 4002, 4027, 4040, 4083, 4085

 

[Paul_10]

4026 should be the one returning if I'm right

Only 6 unrefurbished left now, and only 2 more to go to Wabtec:

4001, 4002, 4027, 4040, 4083, 4085

To be honest, I thought 4026 would of been back before now, pretty certain it went before 4048 did, maybe it was 4077 that returned?

My prediction remains that it be the two Emirates units that will remain along with the prototypes which we know won't be getting refurbished anyways.

Just to note 4067 pairing with 4029 lasted only a day as 4029 was paired with 4006 the following day.

 

[55013]

4001 has been out today.
I had it, along with 4085 on an Airport - South Hylton service

 

[tez thorn]

I'm sure 4007 came back round about November,I'm definitely

Certain it's gonna be the two Emirates units not going

(4040/4083)

 

[Tramfan]

4085 went to Doncaster today, just 1 more to go from 4027, 4040, 4083

 

[Paul_10]

4085 went to Doncaster today, just 1 more to go from 4027, 4040, 4083

Do you which one has came back, 4080 i'm guessing?

Some observations to report, manage to catch 4067 paired with 4078 yesterday but again, the pairing was brief as 4078 is now paired with 4015 so I would not be surprised if 4067 is still suffering with unreliability problems.

4026/4048 were both spotted in service today for the first time, in the former case, it was on green line duties but later on, it was working the peak workings so obviously got withdrawn from service at some point.

Due to the nice weather and making the most of a rare day off, I decided to head down to South Shields, got to say, its rather dissapointing too see the PA Boards at some stations still not working 100% all the time, it really is poor how this has never been sorted out after so many years they have been in.

Looking at South Shields station today reminded me of those plans ModernRailway linked to this thread regarding the plans for making a completely new bus/metro station in the area, is there any updates on this? Hopefully something will happen because it is looking a bit sorry for itself at the moment.

 

[Tramfan]

There's a couple of pictures on Flickr showing 4077 being returned

It also means that the previous red/blue/green standard livery has now been completely eradicated from the system

 

[hacman]

The question that now remains is if the trains that are not going off to Wabtec will at least get a cosmetic refurb to make them consistent with the rest of the fleet, even if the corrosion issues and new wiring is not put in. Something along the lines of painting the interior of the doors, a livery on the outside consistent with the others, and new flooring/seat coverings.

Would certainly be good to at least get the door controls the same too - as increasingly drivers operating unrefurbished sets keep forgetting they need to play the doors closing warning.

Jon

 

[MetroCar4058]

Didn't they state that the non refurbished units would remain in their current liveries? I mean I don't know how the paint job on 4002 will survive mind its fading away.

I doubt there will be any major work done to the units that are not touched, maybe a new seat cover when the old ones are extremely worn out; One good thing, they won't be getting that awful sorry excuse of a PA anytime soon I've noticed many drivers seem not to turn the PA on on the units that have that awful sound pack on!

I'm assuming the two in the Emirates scheme will be kept as they are also until the deal with Emirates runs out; which will probably be rolling for many years. Question is, if Nexus do want to keep these units hidden in the depot most of the time. Which would be quite hard as we lack the stock, why would they want to sponsor spare stock? Something doesn't really add up there.