Metro fines manufacturer £1.4m for train failures

The current trains have been in service for more than 40 years

The firm responsible for getting the Tyne and Wear Metro’s trains into service every day has been fined £1.4m for underperformance.

Metro operator Nexus confirmed that it has hit Swiss manufacturer Stadler with financial penalties for not having enough carriages in a usable state over the past year.

The network has been beset with problems over recent months, with passengers left increasingly frustrated by regular delays and cancellations.

Stadler said the 43-year-old fleet has reached its life expectancy, making "maintaining high levels of performance increasingly difficult to achieve".

Funds reinvested

On top of delays, the long-awaited arrival of the £362m new Metro fleet being built by Stadler has seen its start date pushed back again.

Stadler is contracted to maintain the Metro’s current fleet as well as building the new one, with 28 trains required to run a normal weekday service.

In figures released after a request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Nexus confirmed it has so far withheld £1.4m from Stadler in 2023/24 for not getting enough of the existing trains available for use in the last 12 months.

A Nexus spokesperson said its contract with Stadler provides for financial adjustments where performance falls below levels that the contract requires.

"Payments to Stadler have therefore been reduced, commensurate with the performance that they have delivered, in accordance with contractual terms," the added.

"Nexus has re-invested a proportion of the money withheld, with Stadler delivering initiatives that sit outside of the base contract specification to help improve performance."

A spokesperson from Stadler said: "The Tyne and Wear Metro fleet that Stadler looks after is 43 years old and trains have reached their life expectancy. This makes maintaining high levels of performance increasingly difficult to achieve.

"Despite these challenges, we are doing our upmost to ensure that they are as reliable as they can be, and are constantly looking for new ways to ensure a good service for passengers."