New £362m Metro fleet slowed down by coronavirus pandemic
has slowed progress on finalising the design of the modern carriages, which will boast features such as WiFi and air conditioning.
The first of the new trains should be in use on Tyne and Wear tracks by summer 2023 and all of the current, outdated stock replaced by the end of 2024.
Mr Fenwick told the North East Joint Transport Committee’s Tyne and Wear sub-committee: “It is fair to say that Stadler Rail did have one or two issues and problems when COVID-19 hit in terms of the recruitment of key personnel to drive that project on.
“It is also fair to say that while the two teams here in the North East of England and Switzerland have been liaising with each other using medium like Microsoft Teams, the progress in terms of moving the design forward has probably been a little less than we would have expected had we not had to encounter the COVID-19 emergency.
“We are confident that we can make up time and that project is definitely still going ahead and we absolutely need to ensure that we do make up that time.”
Mr Fenwick added that “really good progress” was being made with the construction of a temporary Metro maintenance depot in Howdon, where construction has continued with social distancing measures in place.
The new Metro trains will also be fitted with an onboard battery that means they could run even in the event of an overhead line fault.
Carriages will also have USB charging points, WiFi connectivity, air conditioning and an automatic sliding step at every door to make access easier.