Trains on the Tyne and Wear Metro network should have that extra sparkle next time you see them following the commissioning of an all new carriage wash at Gosforth Depot which can be used by both the old and new trains. The installation of the new facility is just one part of the £70 million rebuild of the depot complex in preparation for the introduction of the new state of the art trains being built by Stadler.
Marc Robson, Stadler’s Head of Location at Gosforth Depot, said: “The new carriage wash is a real game changer for us and has delivered a huge improvement to our Metro train care facilities. It’s a modern, new piece of equipment which allows us to clean the Metro fleet more effectively. It’s helping us to avoid the need to wash the Metro carriages by hand.
“The machine work on exactly the same principles as a car wash. The water comes on and the brushes start spinning to scrub the train clean before it’s dried off at the end by a blast of air from the fans. We can use the machine on the new Metro trains, and on the current fleet. They both fit through it.
“A train will go through approximately every seven days as a minimum. That’s based on the on the rotation of Metro service requirements and the train stabling capacity at the depot.”
The new machine provides more effective exterior cleaning and Metro trains should all make their way through it once a week.
The Metro driver takes the train through the carriage wash at 3km/h. When the train enters the machine it is misted before the water jets and brushes activate. Detergent gets mixed with water for each carriage which is being washed. Its then polished by the rotating scrubbers and blow dried on the way out.