Metro has sent some of its decommissioned trains to a yard in County Durham to undergo breakage work.
Some Metro drivers watched the carriages being taken apart to be recycled.
Lesley Williams, 67, a retired Metro driver and Jon Doughty, 59, made the trip to watch the trains they had driven for many years be crushed down.
The day was both emotional and captivating as they watched the hydraulic grabbers pull apart the bodywork, the windows, and the seats.
The old carriages are being phased out, and the materials are being shipped around the world to be used in other projects.
“It was emotional to see the old train going on its final journey. The process was such a visually striking thing to watch up close. I worked on these old Metro trains for so many years. I have many memories of them. They have served the region well but they are really starting to look old now.
“They will undoubtedly be missed, but I am sure the drivers are also really looking forward to driving the new and much more modern trains.
“I am hugely grateful to the team at Denham Metals for allowing us to visit their yard and see a train undergo breakage. It’s quite incredible how they use the machinery to break them apart.”
Lesley Williams
Responses
The old Tyne and Wear Metro trains will be missed forever since they have been replaced by the new Class 555.
Recycled? It looks as though the carriages are just being smashed to smithereens without any care whatsoever. If they were being recycled I would have expected them to be dismantled with a little more care.
It’s an odd use of the word, isn’t it? Recycling to me suggests components being removed for refurbishment. What’s happening here is plain old fashioned scrapping, but there seems to be a desire (not for the first time) to make more of it – but the fact that materials are being shipped around the world implies more like pushing our rubbish off onto others.