Demolition work has begun on the 100-year-old Tyne and Wear Metro train depot to give way for a £70m new modern home for the new Metro train fleet.
Carried out by Thompsons of Prudhoe, pulling down of the South East side of the Gosforth depot in Newcastle began on 8 March 2021, with excavators brought in to dismantle the roof and ageing brickwork.
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Soon to be an environment-friendly, state-of-the-art facility, the construction of the new Metro is expected to be completed another two and a half years. The upcoming depot will be a maintenance base for Metro’s new trains.
The public body that owns and manages Metro, Nexus, will switch between the old new depot in phases, by 2024.
Swiss train builder Stadler has appointed VolkerFitzpatrick to build the depot and will be delivering a fleet of 42 new Metro trains on behalf of Nexus, with the last being delivered by 2024.
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Stadler, which assumed maintenance responsibility of the old fleet last October, will be looking after the servicing and maintenance of the new trains for the next 35 years.
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By GlobalDataMetro Development director Neil Blagburn said: “The start of the demolition work at Gosforth depot is the first major stage in the works that will transform our fleet maintenance facilities for generations to come.
“The current depot has stood there for 100 years and has been the home for Metro since the late 1970s. It’s a very old building that is long past its best and while we’re sad in some respects to see it go, it is essential that we take the opportunity to construct a new state of the art depot for our new trains. It will allow the train maintainer to introduce the very latest maintenance practices which will benefit our customers for years to come.
“The depot transformation is already well underway and will continue over the next two and a half years with the old buildings disappearing in phases. We are storing up to a quarter of our trains at our satellite depot in Howdon throughout this process.”
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Soon to be an environment-friendly, state-of-the-art facility, the construction of the new Metro is expected to be completed another two and a half years. Credit: Nick Collins/Unsplash.
