Firefighters working at Newcastle Airport have attended a series of training sessions about the new Tyne and Wear Metro trains, which ensures that they are familiar with the trains and can deal effectively with an emergency at the airport terminal.

Metro operator Nexus arranged for the training to be delivered to all four of the Airport’s fire watches. Each watch is responsible for providing emergency response cover when it is on duty, which helps to keep passengers and airport operations safe. Forty skilled firefighters work at the airport.

During the training sessions, firefighters learned about the layout of the trains’ carriages, their fire detection systems, and emergency access points to and from the driver’s cab and the carriage saloon area. They also learned about the trains’ braking distances, power supply, battery locations, emergency alarm and intercom systems, jacking points and the locations of fire extinguishers and defibrillators.

Nexus provides similar training to other local emergency services.

The new trains are now in operation through the Tyne and Wear Metro, and older trains have been withdrawn. The Metro has been running services to and from the airport since its extension was opened in 1991.

The new trains, built by Stadler, are comfortable, modern and open-plan, and offer better standards for accessibility than their predecessors. The first trains in the fleet began carrying passengers in late 2024, and nearly forty are now available for service.

This is an essential programme of training and familiarisation with the new Metro train fleet that we’ve delivered with all of the fire fighters at Newcastle Airport.

It’s important that they know the layout, emergency systems and access points on the Stadler train so that they can react effectively in the unlikely event an emergency situation should arise at the airport.

The new trains are vastly different [to the original fleet], so we built this in this programme of emergency service familiarisation. We’ve already delivered the same course to our colleagues in Northumbria Police and the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service. We plan to update our colleagues at the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS).

Working with our local blue light services is absolutely critical for us.

Paul Taylor, Learning and Development Specialist at Nexus