Metro maintenance team prepares to bid farewell to iconic train fleet

Workers at the Tyne and Wear Metro’s Gosforth depot are preparing to say goodbye to the network’s original train fleet as the final vehicles approach retirement after more than four decades in service.

The remaining trains, which first entered passenger service in 1980, are expected to operate their final journeys between 22 and 26 June, bringing to a close a remarkable chapter in the history of public transport in the North East.

For generations of maintenance staff, the trains have been a familiar part of daily working life. Employees at the depot, now operated by Stadler, have spent decades maintaining, repairing and refurbishing the fleet to keep services running across the Metro network.

Among them is Paul Patrick, who began his career at Gosforth depot as an apprentice fitter in 1995. Now serving as Stadler’s Head of Region for the UK, Ireland and North America, he has witnessed the fleet’s later years first-hand.

Reflecting on the retirement of the trains, Patrick said:

“The old trains have been great workhorses for so many years.

“They have been the life blood of our region, taking people to work, to appointments, and on nights out.

“Metro is the beating heart of the North East and not many other UK cities have a railway quite like it.

“The trains we are about to say goodbye to have pride of place in Metro’s story.

“I worked on them when I became an apprentice aged 16.

“It’s a bittersweet feeling to see them go.

“Everyone recognises they are life expired now. They have done their job.

“You do feel an attachment to them.

“There are many I’ve repaired many times over and they’re now in a breaker’s yard.

“The new trains are amazing and it’s absolutely right that we have them now.

“They bring a smile to people’s faces when they see them arrive.

“We must move on to the new technology, and I’m so also proud to be part of the introduction and maintenance of the new fleet.”

Production Manager Adam Cairns has also spent much of his career working with the Metro fleet. Having joined the depot as a trainee in 2005, he has seen the trains serve communities across the region while becoming increasingly challenging to maintain as they age.

He said:

“I’ve enjoyed working with these trains.

“The fault finding and the repairs were something I’ve enjoyed.

“There was always great job satisfaction when we got one fixed.

“They’ve experienced more issues in recent years and parts have become hard to come by.

“That said, they have been great for the North East, and such a huge part of everyday life for so many years.”

Known as the Metro Class 599 fleet, the trains were originally promoted as the ‘supertram’ and arrived in the North East during the mid-1970s for testing before the Metro network officially opened.

Passenger services began on 11 August 1980 as the system was introduced in phases across the region. Since then, the fleet has become one of the most recognisable symbols of public transport in the North East.

Over the course of their service life, the trains have carried approximately 1.7 billion passenger journeys and travelled around 500 million kilometres.

Their withdrawal marks a major milestone in the ongoing modernisation of the Metro network as newer trains gradually replace the ageing fleet. The transition is expected to deliver improved reliability, enhanced passenger facilities and modern technology, while also ushering in a new era for the engineers and technicians responsible for keeping the system running.

For many depot workers, however, the retirement of the original trains will be accompanied by a sense of nostalgia for a fleet that has served the region for almost half a century.