Ministers have refused to promise funding for the £435million needed for a new fleet of trains for the creaking Tyne and Wear Metro.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling says the Government is “looking very carefully” at proposals, but could not set a date for a decision, when challenged in the House of Commons.
It comes after North East transport body Nexus submitted proposals to the Department for Transport for a new fleet of trains to replace the 40-year-old vehicles used at the moment.
Gateshead MP Ian Mearns highlighted the need to replace the trains, telling MPs that Tyne and Wear commuters “are affected daily” by failing trains, adding: “That is largely due to the fact that the Metro is well past the 35 years for which it was designed.”
Delays have become a regular experience for frustrated passengers using the system, with trains often having to be withdrawn from service.
Earlier this week fed-up commuters were told peak services would be disrupted due to a lack of trains in the ageing fleet.
Last month bewildered commuters were booted off a Newcastle-bound train at Hebburn after the windscreen wipers broke.
And earlier this year a fault with door mechanisms led to several trains being removed from service at rush hour.
Delays have become a regular experience for frustrated passengers using the system, with trains often having to be withdrawn from service.
Earlier this week fed-up commuters were told peak services would be disrupted due to a lack of trains in the ageing fleet.
Last month bewildered commuters were booted off a Newcastle-bound train at Hebburn after the windscreen wipers broke.
And earlier this year a fault with door mechanisms led to several trains being removed from service at rush hour.
He added: “My Department is looking very carefully at what the best options are. I understand the need to make changes, so that the Metro can carry on serving people in the way it has in the past.”
But the delay in making a decision was criticised by Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, who told Ministers: “We have had many flowery words from the Government about understanding the experience of our constituents in the North East who are forced to use crumbling rolling stock on Tyne and Wear Metro, but flowery words will not get our constituents to work on time unless they are matched by investment.”
Nexus has been in talks with the Department for Transport’s Board Investment and Commercial Committee (BICC) with details of proposals to invest in a new fleet of Metro vehicles.
While BICC will need to approve plans for funding, Government Ministers will then make a final decision.
A Nexus spokesman said: “Nexus has been working for several years to secure funding for a new train fleet. The current fleet is almost 40 years old and its reliability is an increasing problem, causing trains to fail in service too often.
“A new fleet for the decades ahead will require external funding because of the significant cost involved, around £435 million.
“Nexus put in a detailed business case to the Department for Transport at the end of last year and has been in talks with civil servants since; while there is agreement that Metro needs investment for new trains we are yet to agree a funding model.”
The proposed fleet is due to have air conditioning, CCTV facilities to approve security and WiFi available for passengers.
There will also be an improved passenger information system.
The carriages are due to have “linear” seating, which means that seats are along the side of the carriage facing the centre.
A paper presented by Nexus to the North East Combined Authority warns that this could lead to trains having slightly fewer seats than existing models, but there will be room for more passengers in total, leading to less overcrowding. It’s also possible that the new trains will be sightly longer than existing vehicles, in which case the number of seats will not be cut.
