Tyne and Wear Metro

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Bus_User

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09 Nov 2014, 11:52 am #808

(09 Nov 2014, 10:43 am)Dan I was going by the only 'report' I read: the one citaro5284 copied and pasted to this forum. If customers are being 'choked by smoke' it sounds quite serious indeed, and if this is a recurring issue (which seems to be the case), then I'd suggest that this reiterates the doubts I had about refurbishing old stock again opposed to buying new trains. I wasn't aware that passengers remained on the train in question for 20 minutes as I was only going by the 'report' I read on this forum - how could exaggeration be what I had in mind, if this is the case?

Regardless of what the specific issue may be, smoke is considered to be a fire in the eyes of a normal customer. If smoke bellows into the interior of a train, that is going to be an unforgettable life experience. A train I was on in the summer of 2013 came to an emergency stop in one of the tunnels at Gateshead and someone thought it would be a good idea to smoke weed whilst we waited; as if the journey wasn't bad enough to start with due to being overcrowded with many people heading to the Evolution festival on Newcastle Quayside, the lack of 'fresh air' in the train once it had been lighted made things ten times worse. Looking back, I don't think I was in any danger at all, though at the time I was very scared indeed and, like many others, I was stood on chairs trying to get air through the windows.

There are reliability issues, and there are issues which make people lose faith in the system. The same would apply to buses catching fire too, though thankfully recent examples haven't been major and everyone has been evacuated at first signs of a light on the dash suggesting something was wrong, and nobody has had to endure being 'choked by smoke' or anything similar...

Your words was "surely not another train up in flames" which clearly suggests a serious fire on the train where infact if there was any fire it would be underneath the train and any smoke will more than likely to be a white smoke than any thick black smoke and the photo in the EC would seemingly suggest that. And no person would stay on the train if the train was up in flames and there was thick black smoke heading into the passenger saloon. Maybe you should of read more than just a single report? I also have to question why the passengers were all trying to get fresh air from open windows and heading down the train to avoid the smoke instead of using the Emergency exits, maybe they were instructed from the driver not to do so, I doubt we will never know.

Not doubting this is a serious incident and the sight of smoke will be a scary experience even if there was no actual fire but I just think your choice of words is quite misleading really.

As for new trains then it was always the plan to refurbish the trains again as opposed to buying new stock but only Nexus have got themselves to blame. If they were more interesting in buying new stock instead of blabbering on about the now infamous Project Orpheus(which is to create street tram running along with the metro) then we may of had new trains by now. As it is though, new trains seems a long way off and a bit of a fantasy. You also have to bear in mind, unlike buses, years of planning has to take place before new stock even get built.

Bus_User

09 Nov 2014, 11:52 am #808

(09 Nov 2014, 10:43 am)Dan I was going by the only 'report' I read: the one citaro5284 copied and pasted to this forum. If customers are being 'choked by smoke' it sounds quite serious indeed, and if this is a recurring issue (which seems to be the case), then I'd suggest that this reiterates the doubts I had about refurbishing old stock again opposed to buying new trains. I wasn't aware that passengers remained on the train in question for 20 minutes as I was only going by the 'report' I read on this forum - how could exaggeration be what I had in mind, if this is the case?

Regardless of what the specific issue may be, smoke is considered to be a fire in the eyes of a normal customer. If smoke bellows into the interior of a train, that is going to be an unforgettable life experience. A train I was on in the summer of 2013 came to an emergency stop in one of the tunnels at Gateshead and someone thought it would be a good idea to smoke weed whilst we waited; as if the journey wasn't bad enough to start with due to being overcrowded with many people heading to the Evolution festival on Newcastle Quayside, the lack of 'fresh air' in the train once it had been lighted made things ten times worse. Looking back, I don't think I was in any danger at all, though at the time I was very scared indeed and, like many others, I was stood on chairs trying to get air through the windows.

There are reliability issues, and there are issues which make people lose faith in the system. The same would apply to buses catching fire too, though thankfully recent examples haven't been major and everyone has been evacuated at first signs of a light on the dash suggesting something was wrong, and nobody has had to endure being 'choked by smoke' or anything similar...