(12 Jul 2026, 11:11 am)RMF1254 wrote I have to agree, the old Metrocars were state of the art when they were new, a revelation after the old dmus on the N Tyne loop and South Shields lines. They served these routes and extensions well but as they aged they were not as reliable and were ready for withdrawal.
The new Metrocars are lovely to ride on and I haven’t had a bad run yet. The only gripe I have is the narrow seats and that they are all facing inwards, but it is a small gripe.
As for the builder, I was delighted when Stadler were announced as the winners. I have travelled over the years in Switzerland and presently a lot of the trains there are built by Stadler and they are superb - double deckers, single deckers, Inter City, high speed and local trains plus trams, narrow gauge and normal gauge. Any teething problems here I would presume would be the extra design features by Nexus.
Politely saying this, they're Class 555's, not Metrocars, but yes, as much as i loved the old girls, they were knackered and literally falling apart, and that cab, im sure it likely went against present legislation, really, instead of another refurbishment from 2010-2015, that should of been it for the old stock then instead of limping on for another 10-15 years