Tyne and Wear Metro carriages to be scrapped as donation plan too expensive

Plans to donate old Tyne and Wear Metro trains to community projects have been deemed too expensive.

Most of the carriages will now be scrapped and will be replaced by a £362 million fleet arriving by 2024.

The new trains will be more reliable and have modern features like air conditioning, USB charging points and an automatic sliding step at every door.

Metro operator Nexus had offered grassroots organisations the chance to transform the carriages into classrooms, community hubs or street food destinations.

But due to the complexity of delivery arrangements and the heavy machinery needed to deliver the trains to the final sites, bosses say the plans could not be justified as "a reasonable use of public money at a time of rising inflation and operating costs".

Four carriages have already been scrapped with more than 80 set to follow.

Two trains have been saved for historical purposes; the first Metro prototype train will be donated to the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Tyneside and another train to Beamish Museum.

Customer services director Huw Lewis said: "The current Metro fleet has served the region well for more than 40 years and we recognise that there is affection and nostalgia for the trains.

"However, they are now at the end of their life and will be gradually phased out over the next two years as the new Stadler trains enter service."

The Metro opened in 1980.

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