Nexus has announced that new railway tracks are being installed for a temporary Metro depot in North Tyneside which is scheduled to open in the summer.
The former landfill site in Howdon has been undergoing major track installation works. A total of 12 of new lines have been installed over the last three months along with 13 new track junctions and 1,000 sleepers.
Nexus is building the depot so that it has a temporary maintenance facility for the current Tyne & Wear Metro fleet while the main depot in Gosforth in Newcastle is rebuilt.
Work to rebuild the Gosforth depot will start in August. Nexus will then transition into the new depot in 2024 when its 42 new trains arrive.
Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd is building the temporary Metro depot on behalf of Nexus.
Nexus has appointed Stadler to build its new £362m train fleet.
Stadler will also build and run a new £70m Metro facility at the current depot in Gosforth as part of the deal, creating scores of jobs in construction and employing around 100 people directly.
Here are some videos showing the work:
What did the officials say?
Metro Development Director, Neil Blagburn, said:
“The temporary Metro depot is making excellent progress.
The new tracks and junctions are in place so that we can get the trains in and out of this vital new facility.
“The next phase will see the new depot building constructed. It will really start to take shape over the next few months.
“We must have this depot in place so that we can carry out all of our essential fleet engineering and maintenance work while we transition to the new main depot over the next four years.”
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