No sooner had we run an article on another Stadler train entering service on the Tyne and Wear Metro than its out of date as the penultimate example carries its first passengers too! 555 046 followed quick on the heels of 555 023 with it being used for the first time on Monday 14th September 2026.
555 046 is the highest numbered of the 46 Stadler trains which were ordered to replace the original fleet of trains – and it was part of the final delivery of three which arrived on the Metro network on 20th and 21st February 2026.
Its fellow units which came at the same time were 555 022 (which is now the only train not to have carried passengers) and 555 029 (which entered service on 18th June 2026).
We now wait to see when 555 022 will make it a full house of 46!
555 037 – entered service on 27th February 2026 – is seen here at a sunny Cullercoats on 14th September 2026. (Photograph by Howard Forster)
We move to Pelaw where 555 023 makes the stop on its way to South Hylton shortly after it entered service.
The latest train into service and all shiny and new is 555 046. It too is seen at Pelaw on what was its first day in service – 14th September 2026. (Photographs x2 by Trevor Hall)