19.06.15
Tyne & Wear Metro gets £40m modernisation works this year
Nexus is to invest £40m in modernisation works for the Tyne & Wear Metro over the next 12 months, replacing track, refurbishing trains and installing a new rail traffic management system.
The work forms part of the £389m government-funded scheme to modernise the Tyne and Wear Metro that began in 2010, ‘All change’.
Nexus will be pressing ahead with this work over the remainder of the year, having earlier completed a major project to replace the tracks on the QEII Metro bridge spanning the River Tyne.
The installation of a new Rail Traffic Management System (RTMS) is biggest investment in new technology for the Metro Control Room since it began operations in 1980, Metro bosses say.
A new radio system is also being installed in the control room and the driver’s cabs on all 90 trains in the fleet. The new technology will replace an analogue radio system which has been in use since the early 1990s.
Track replacement work will take place between Tynemouth and Northumberland Park. The work is scheduled to happen in two stages in March 2016 and July of 2016.
The track junction on the Metro line at Regent Centre in Newcastle will also be replaced in July and August during four weekend line closures.
A series of station refurbishments are also included in the plans. Work on Central Station is due to begin in the autumn to provide improvements to accessibility, information and waiting facilities as well as giving the station a bright new look.
Like Haymarket, rebuilt in 2009, Central Station will feature a predominantly white interior with feature walls picked out in a feature colour, helping assist passenger navigation. Subject to approval, the works will be part funded from the Government’s Single Local Growth Fund.
The modernisation work at Felling and Gateshead Stadium Metro stations will start in July with works at Heworth expected to commence in December. All three stations will be given a fresh new look, with improved seating and lighting.
Nexus is also planning further redevelopment work at Sunderland Station, working in partnership with Sunderland Council and Network Rail.
Director of rail and infrastructure for Nexus, Raymond Johnstone, said: “We have £40m of investment lined up over the next 12 months as part of our Metro modernisation programme.
“The main thing passengers will notice is the station refurbishment work at Central Station and at three of our stations in Gateshead.
“The track replacement work on the North Tyneside coastal loop in 2016 will be extremely significant and is vital to keep Metro running for many decades to come.
“There is also going to be investment in new technology. The new radio system for our trains will be much more reliable and effective. The new technology for our Metro control room is a major development behind the scenes.”
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