The Tyne and Wear Metro will be far better able to cope with sizzling heatwaves once its new £362m fleet of trains arrives.
This week’s scorching weather has thrown public transport systems across the country into chaos. Metro passengers were advised not to travel on Tuesday as the North East recorded temperatures of up to 37C, while services had to be suspended on parts of the network since Monday due to overhead lines sagging in the heat.
But commuters who dreaded stepping foot on the Metro’s ageing carriages, which have been in service for more than 40 years, in the heatwave can look forward to more comfortable journeys soon. A long-awaited new fleet of trains for the Metro is currently being built in Switzerland and the first of the new models will arrive in the North East later this year, before entering service in 2023.
Read More: Metro passengers told to find alternative transport as extreme heat continues to disrupt services
Passengers will be relieved to know that the new fleet will, unlike the outdated current crop, boast an “advanced” air conditioning system to keep them cool when the hot weather arrives. Another feature that could help the trains overcome the problems caused by extreme heat is an on-board battery that will allow them to keep moving even when overhead lines fail.
A Nexus spokesperson said: “The new Metro fleet will transform the customer experience in terms of comfort and quality. The Stadler trains will have an advanced digital climate control system that will enable our train crews to manage the temperature inside the carriages at the touch of a button.
“The air conditioning will definitely keep our customers cooler in the summer heatwaves when they need to make a journey on Metro. We are really excited to see the first new train arrive at the end of this year and then enter service in 2023.
“The current Metro fleet, which is over 40 years old, doesn’t have air conditioning, and often the open windows don’t provide the cooling effects needed, especially in very hot weather like we are seeing at the moment. The new trains also have battery technology that will allow us to run for longer when there are problems with the overhead wires. This allows us to overcome periods of disruption much more effectively.”
Transport secretary Grant Shapps has conceded that the UK’s transport network cannot cope with intense heat, saying that the Victorian-era infrastructure “just wasn’t built to withstand this type of temperature” and that the government must “drive up standards” as climate change makes these extreme weather events more frequent. Railway tracks can become far hotter than the air temperature, with the hottest in the UK reaching 62C on Monday, and potentially expand, bend and break.
Nexus said that the Metro’s track temperatures had been in the mid-40s and that it had experienced no problems with buckling as of Tuesday afternoon, though a speed restriction would automatically come into force if the rails hit 52C.
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