The Tyne and Wear Metro welcomed the latest couple of new trains to their network in the early hours of 9th May 2025 when 555 012 and 555 014 were delivered from Switzerland.
The delivery of these two – which once again came as a pair and were hauled by rail with RailAdventure HST power cars 43 467 and 43 423 hauling them up the East Coast Mainline on the final leg of their journey as far as the Network Rail/Metro boundary – means that 19 of the eventual 46 fleet has now arrived in the northeast.
So far, nine of the units have also carried passengers although the phased introduction has seen a bit of a hiatus with the complete withdrawal in April as a result of an operational issue with the doors. They have now returned although the full four diagrams previously operated have not yet returned.
Those which have been delivered are now 555 001–555 015 (these latest two fill a nice gap!), 555 020, 555 021, 555 027 and 555 028.
Meanwhile, the ranks of those which have carried passengers have increased by one as well with 555 006 the latest to enter service. Delivered on 13th September 2024 the unit had been confined to testing and driver training until Tuesday 20th May 2025 when it was used in service for the first time – the tenth of the trains to have done so.
555 002–555 006, 555 015, 555 020, 555 021, 555 027 and 555 028 is the complete list of those which have been used in service.
The plan remains that half the fleet (23) will be in service by the end of 2025 with the remainder introduced during 2026.