The whole fleet of new Tyne and Wear Metro trains officially in service
posted on 21st Oct 2026 11:46
All 46 new Tyne and Wear Metro trains have been officially handed over for customer service, marking the final phase of the 362 million GBP project. Metro operator Nexus said it was the culmination of the biggest project in the history of the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Stadler formally handed over the final new Class 555 Metro train to Nexus in October - two months ahead of an end of 2026 target date. It marks the final stages of a project which has been transformational for many thousands of customers and has secured the long-term future of the Tyne and Wear Metro system. Now all of the new Metro trains have gone through the rigorous testing and commissioning process and can now be used in daily services.
In achieving the latest project milestone, Nexus has completed 90,000 individual tests across the new fleet, trained 480 employees and put the fleet through a total of 37,000 km of on track testing runs. It’s been a complex and detailed programme, from the announcement of the funding in 2017, to the start of the build process, and then roll out into service.
All 46 new Metro trains have been hauled to the UK across mainland Europe by rail from the Stadler factory in Switzerland - a journey of 2,900 km. That process began when the first Class 555 train was delivered in February 2023. The first unit entered customer service on 18 December 2024. Since then, a new train has been handed over to Nexus on average every 15 days. The last few units in the original Class 599 fleet were withdrawn from service in June 2026.
