Metro maintenance firm racks up £2m in fines

The company tasked with getting Metro trains ready to run every day has been hit with more than £2m of fines since taking on the responsibility.

Swiss manufacturer Stadler incurred £2.3m of contractual penalties from operator Nexus since 2020.

This included failing to put enough trains into service since it took over the maintenance depot in Gosforth, Newcastle.

A spokesperson for Stadler said "at 45 years old, the Tyne and Wear legacy fleet is life-expired and increasingly difficult to maintain" and added it was "delighted" the roll-out of new trains had begun.

In recent years, Metro trains have become more failure-prone and difficult to source replacement parts for.

Subsequently, passengers have been forced to endure regular delays and uncomfortable journeys.

It is hoped that Stadler's £362m new fleet will be fully operational within the next two years.

In recent weeks, passengers have faced travel chaos due to the closure of the Gateshead Flyover and cancellations as Metros have struggled in the cold weather.

Figures obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service via a freedom of information request show the majority of Stadler's fines, about £1.5m, were incurred in 2023/24.

That was the year the network recorded the worst ever performance figures in its history, when only 61% of services ran to timetable during one four-week period.

However, there was a substantial decrease in the current financial year - with Nexus reporting that, despite the recent setbacks, reliability has improved by nearly 20%.

The publicly-owned operator said all contractual payments withheld from Stadler were invested back into "dealing with these challenges and getting the best possible performance from our current trains".

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