20.07.16
£1bn Metro strategy includes new £550m fleet and service expansion
A new rail strategy for the Metro system, including £1bn investment over the next 20 years and plans to kick-start an expansion scheme, has been approved by the North East Combined Authority (NECA).
The ‘Metro and Local Rail Strategy’ identifies a network of disused or under-used rail routes across the region that could potentially benefit from new or better services, “putting whole towns and communities back on the national railway map” and creating new links into business parks as a result.
These under-used routes, which thread across Northumberland, Durham and Tyne and Wear, could be “brought back to life” for passenger services, and would provide a “starting point for detailed evaluation to see which might deliver the highest benefits from investment, and what the construction challenges would be”.
The plan, approved by NECA’s Leadership Board, also argued that a new fleet could potentially operate on lines beyond just its traditional electrified Metro system due to advances in train technology – thus creating opportunities for local service expansion and better rail integration.
The intention is to replace the original Metro fleet in service since 1980 with new trains at an estimated cost of £550m, including power supply upgrades and depot facilities. The strategy aims to introduce this new fleet in the early 2020s.
Cllr Nick Forbes, transport lead at the combined authority and leader of Newcastle City Council, said the “ambitious” strategy will develop and expand the “iconic and world-famous” Metro system in the north east.
“We are building a business case for major investment in Metro and local rail to improve journeys for passengers and provide cleaner, greener and attractive travel choices,” he said.
“Local rail brings huge economic and social benefits to the communities it reaches today but we need to extend those benefits into new areas. To do that it is essential we secure funding for a new fleet of Metro trains, acting as a catalyst for the expansion of local rail and better integration across North East England.”
Cllr Forbes argued that the “well-publicised problems” with reliability on the Metro “underline how essential it is” to bring in a new fleet, but said the NECA wants to “look far beyond that immediate goal” to maximise the growth of all local rail services together.
Metro owner and manager Nexus has already kicked off talks with the government about funding routes and hopes to submit a detailed business case before the end of this year.
Tobyn Hughes, managing director for transport at NECA, commented: “We believe some existing and disused local rail corridors can be combined with Metro to create a single network at a lower cost than new-build railways. By fusing local rail and Metro together we can create something new and better than the sum of those two parts.
“There are also areas where the existing Metro system can be upgraded, and the system is badly in need of a new fleet. This opens the possibility of a new Metro fleet working seamlessly alongside regional trains depending on the route and stations being served.”
He added that Nexus will have invested £350m by 2021 renewing track and other infrastructure on the light rail system, but needs to “continue that investment over the next two decades” as well as focus on trains.
Interestingly, the strategy builds on Sunderland’s reputation as the first place in the UK to see local Metro services share track with regional and national trains when the metro route was inaugurated in 2002. This included new stations opening on existing tracks between Sunderland city centre and Pelaw, as well as part of the disused railway line between Sunderland and Durham being re-opened for the Metro trains.
The strategy also follows this year’s creation of a new North East Rail Management Unit through which the combined authority plays a key role in the devolution of rail services from Whitehall.
NECA said it would now “like to see this develop” so Metro and local rail can work alongside each other with a common set of passenger standards and ticketing, including the potential to see some routes transferred between Metro and local rail in either direction.
(Top image c. Phil Thirkell)
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