Metrocar preservation discussions ‘at an early stage’
Hopes of permanent home for original fleet examples after withdrawal.
TYNE & Wear Metro operator Nexus says it will set aside “one or two” Metrocars for potential donation to museums or recognised heritage bodies once they are retired from service.
Based on the design for the German Stadtbahnwagen
Type B and built by Metro-Cammell in Birmingham, 90 of the twosection articulated vehicles were ordered for the system prior to its opening in 1980.
With the exception of
No. 4022 (scrapped in 2020 following accident damage sustained at South Gosforth depot three years earlier), all the Metrocars remain in existence and 87 are still in service.
Contenders
Nos. 4001 and 4002, the prototypes delivered in 1975, have been highlighted as potential candidates for preservation, but Nexus told The RM it would be “a matter for a museum to suggest the Metrocar of greatest interest”. As an example of another vehicle with historical associations, it suggested 4020, which carried Her Majesty
The Queen when she officially opened the Metro in November 1981 and The Prince of Wales when he visited last November to mark the 40th anniversary of the occasion.
Nexus says the Metrocars are being offered with static preservation in mind and has ruled out any suggestion of them being seen on the system again after retirement.
It also plans to offer five Metrocars for community use between August 2023 and December 2024 when they are due to be replaced by the new Stadler-built fleet.