Nexus have announced that a new timetable is to be introduced on the Tyne and Wear Metro. In effect this means that fewer trains will be run at peak times with the extra services which run between Pelaw and Monkseaton no longer operating.
The idea behind the withdrawal of these services is to provide a more reliable service as well as reflecting the change in journey trends since the pandemic. Despite the withdrawal of these services there will still a train every six minutes through the centre of Newcastle and every 12 minutes elsewhere on the network. If extra demand is needed there will be spare trains available.
As we’ve recently reported the removal of these peak time extras won’t actually been a huge difference to what has been running recently as these services are often the first to be removed from the timetable when there is a shortage of trains or staff.
Although this was initally annoucned as being down to a change in travel pattern an internal email has since been leaked which revealed that the availability of trains was severely impacting the ability to offer the full timetable.
Speaking before this leak, Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said: “We are changing the Metro timetable during the morning and afternoon to give customers a more reliable service and reflect the change in demand for travel since the pandemic.
“More people work from home these days so the traditional rush hour is not as busy as it used to be, particularly on Mondays and Fridays. To reflect this we have decided to withdraw some extra peak services that run between Pelaw and Monkseaton stations between 7am and 9am and then again between 4pm and 6pm. Instead of appearing in the timetable trains will now be kept ready to meet the busiest times of day and the busiest days of the week, entering service when they are needed.
“Doing this will mean a more reliable service for all our customers. It means we can continue to meet peak demand while also being able to respond quickly should a train break down, something which is happening more as our current fleet approaches the end of its life. Customers can get real time information on trains from our Pop travel app and website, as well as from displays at stations, in addition to the timetables on stations and our website.”
But after the leak a full statement was released by Martin Kearney, Nexus Managing Director: “I understand that customers are frustrated with the issue of Metro fleet availability and I want to take this opportunity to say sorry for the recent disruption that customers have been experiencing. I appreciate the inconvenience this can cause. Unfortunately, the current fleet is now struggling as it operates beyond its expected lifespan. We have therefore taken the difficult decision to temporarily withdraw extra peak time services between Pelaw and Monkseaton in the traditional morning and evening rush hours.
We have removed these from the advertised timetable and any available spare trains will be kept ready to meet demand as and when it is needed. Customers will still be able to get a train every six minutes through the centre of Newcastle, and every 12 minutes elsewhere on the network. We are working very closely with our partners Stadler to improve current reliability and make more trains available, but it is a significant challenge to keep a 43 year-old fleet in working order during our transition to a new depot and the new Stadler train fleet.
We’ve tested the impact on our customers by counting how busy trains are in the morning ‘rush hour’ on different days of the week, as well as measuring the average journey time for our customers using smart card data. This shows that changes in people’s travel patterns since the pandemic means that the impact on our customers should be small. Hopefully this approach should provide an improved confidence to customers that services will turn up when advertised.”
Unrefurbished pair 4083+4040 have seen regular use this year with continued shortage of available trains. This shows 4083 trailing the pair at University on 4th March 2023.
Whilst here we see 4040 as the rear unit at Pelaw three days later. (Both Photographs by Trevor Hall)