Tyne and Wear Metro rolling stock

The Tyne and Wear Metro Rolling Stock or British Rail Class 994 serves the Tyne and Wear Metro, a metro system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. Since the inception of the Metro the rolling stock has remained the same. The fleet has been refurbished a number of times, with various liveries. Full refurbishment of the fleet is to take place from 2010 until 2015. Metrocars are to be refurbished by Wabtec Rail at its Doncaster facility with the main goal of the project to extend their service life until 2025.

Design
The design of the Metrocars was partly derived from that of the German Stadtbahnwagen B, although the Metrocars were built by the now-defunct Metro-Cammell in Birmingham (later part of Alstom). Prior to opening, the Metro's two prototypes, 4001 and 4002, still in service, underwent several years of testing at the Metro's test track on North Tyneside, opened in 1975.

The prototype cars were very similar to the production fleet and - with the exception of their Kiekert passenger doors - were refitted to match the specification of the production fleet before entering revenue service. The main differences included the use of a "bow" style pantograph, a door in the front and back ends of the trains, and the lack of an external door serving the drivers cab. The prototype cars were also fitted with two different types of block coupling equipment (one at each end), allowing the two designs to be thoroughly tested.

The track was also used to test cars for the Hong Kong MTR, also built by Metro-Cammell. To accommodate the larger Hong Kong cars a short above-ground test tunnel had to be demolished. The test track was built on the route of an old mineral wagonway, and it is now home to the Stephenson Railway Museum.

Including the two prototype trains, a total of 90 two-car sets were constructed (the original specification for the system stated 120 trains, but this number was cut back due to funding problems). All 90 of the trains are still in operation today, and no serious accidents have taken place in 30 years of operation.

The units are allocated TOPS numbers 994001-90, to allow for any possible movements over Network Rail metals.



Livery
The Metro fleet was initially painted in a two-tone livery of cadmium yellow and white that matched the Metro station design and the livery of the Tyne and Wear bus fleet until 1986. In the mid-1990s a new colour scheme was introduced, solid red, green, or blue with a yellow wedge at each end and yellow triangles on the doors. This scheme was modified slightly in 2005, in part to comply with safety regulations - the doors are now solid yellow to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. In addition, many Metrocars have carried full-body advertising. Prototype 4001 has been repainted in its initial yellow-and-beige livery.

To celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, unit 4032 was temporarily decorated in a special gold livery. It has since been returned to the red and yellow design.

After the 2010 - 2015 refurbishment has been completed, all usable Metrocars have the new livery of grey and black with yellow doors.

Electrics
The Metro is electrified at 1500 V DC, as previously used on the Woodhead Line but now unique in Britain. The traction equipment onboard Metro trains is wound for a voltage of 600V DC. Each two car Metro set has its own pantograph for collecting power.

Metro has a maximum speed of 80 km/h, which it attains on rural stretches of line. The vehicles have a minimum curve radius of 50 m, although there are no curves this tight except for the non-passenger chord between Manors and West Jesmond.

Service formations
During the early years of Metro, cars were operated in single and double sets. As single sets became overcrowded Nexus resumed using two cars as standard. Single cars became common during construction of the Sunderland extension when some units were taken for testing of the new track. During original construction Metro was designed to use three car sets, and some platforms were constructed to accommodate this, however due to a lack of funding this was not possible. As a result, the cars run in sets of two. In the future Nexus was quoted as saying platforms could be extended to accommodate three cars, but this would be costly.

Doors closing
The "Stand clear of the doors please" announcement, which sounded before the doors started to close, was introduced in 1991. In 1996, a contest was held in which several mystery celebrities recorded the phrase, with a prize awarded for correct identification; these recordings were replaced by staff announcements after the contest ended. In order to increase the clarity of the announcement (especially for individuals not fluent in English) the phrase was replaced with "Doors closing" in 2004.

In 2011, the "Doors closing" recording was replaced in post-refurbishment Metrocars with a simple beeping sound, similar to that of the London Underground.

Future
Nexus has invested £1.7 million on audio visual display boards on-board its 90 strong fleet of carriages to provide station information. Full refurbishment of the fleet is currently taking place at Wabtec Rail in Doncaster. This commenced June 2010 and is due to be completed by December 2015, extending all 90 Metrocars life until 2025. The fleet will be over 40 years old by this point, even though the original design life of the cars was only 30 years.

The refit at Wabtec sees the trains undergo corrosion correction work, to repair damage as a result of the trains steel and aluminum construction, new seating, flooring and interior finish, in addition to improved saloon and emergency lighting. A new larger wheelchair space has also been created at the end of each car, featuring a "call for assistance" device. Other minor modifications include improved door seals, more concise interior signage and removal of the green boarding lamps to facilitate new audio warning equipment for door operation.

Due to budget constraints as a result of the trains being in worse condition than anticipated, a total of 4 sets will now not be refitted. These will include the converted prototype trains, 4001 and 4002, in addition to 2 further units from the production fleet, decided at a later date. These 4 units, which equate to 2 consists in passenger service formation, will end up being electrically incompatible with the wider fleet for use in revenue service. Nexus has stated that the units which are not refitted will be held in reserve, only seeing use during periods of high demand, for example extra services during the Christmas period or for local sporting fixtures.