Heritage railway gains from Tyne & Wear Metro upgrade

The used track equipment which is being donated. Credit: Nexus

More than 20 tons of used track equipment from the Tyne and Wear Metro's depot in Gosforth has been donated to a heritage railway.

The kit has been given to the Tanfield Railway, which runs from Sunniside in Gateshead and to East Tanfield in County Durham and traces its origins back to 1725. It includes sleepers and control equipment.

This has happened as part of a £70m upgrade to the public transport service. VolkerFitzPatrick - the company rebuilding the depot for Stadler, the Swiss train manufacturer making the new trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro- and its subcontractor, Trackwork, made the equipment available after starting work last month.

Operator Nexus' Metro development director, Neil Blagburn, said:

He added:

Marcus Dench, senior project manager for VolkerFitzpatrick, said:

Tanfield Railway general manager, David Watchman, added that it was good to see a rail project for the future was supporting the North East's railway heritage.

He said

The work being carried out in Gosford is in preparation for demolition, due to start in the spring. It is expected to take four years for the new Metro depot to be ready.

Stadler took over maintenance of the old fleet in October last year and will look after the new trains for 35 years.