The Railway Magazine – August 2019

Metro TrackRecord

86 •TheRailway Magazine•August2019

Tyne &Wearstation closes

SOUTHShields station on the

Tyne andWear Metrosystemwas

permanently closed from the end of

serviceonJuly 7.

This is the first and only T&W

stationto close sinceoperations

began in 1980.

South Shieldswasatt he end of

the YellowLine branch fromPelaw

on the south bank of theTyne.Itw as

closedto makeway forthe town’s

new £21million bus and Metro

interchange, sited 100metresaway,

which is dueto open onAugust 4.

Until then, services areterminatingat

nearbyChichester.

Construction of the interchange,

whichformsPhaseTwoofthe

£100millionSouth Shields 365

regeneration masterplan, began in

April 2018.It brings together the

town’sbus andMetroservices under

one roof,and will include escalators

and liftsto platform level,acafe, bike

storage,seatedwaiting areas,and

better passenger information.

It is claimedto be the best newrail

and bus station in thecountr y.

South Shields opened in 1984,

itselfreplacing theforme rheavy

rail station, and sincethen has been

usedby an estimated50million

passengers,not leastby runners

and spectators forthe annual Great

North Run.It will be demolished this

autumnto crea te anew walkway

into King Street.

Thelast train fromSouth Shields MetrostationranonJuly7when Nos.4057+4085 leftasthe

23.56toBenton.Thestationwill bereplacedbyanewbus and Metrointerchange inAugust.

TREVORHALL

Driverless

people mover

plan forHS2

HS2 has unveiled designsfora

driverless people moverthatwill

connectits Interchange station

in Solihull with Birmingham

Airport, Birmingham

International station and the

National ExhibitionCentre.

Thepeople moverwill feature

20-metrevehicles departing

ever ythree minutesover

a1.5-m ile route, entirely on a

viaduct. It will be capable of

carrying upto 2,100 passengers

per hour in each direction.

Theviaductwill be 12m off the

groundat its highest point,

and the three stops will

be fully accessible,designed

usingcolour to provide clear

HowtheHS2 people movercould look,connecting theSolihull interchange station with Birmingham

Airport, International station, and the NEC.

Override switch

ledtodoors

beingleftopen

ATUBE train leftastation with
10 sets of doors open afterthe
operatorbypassed the door
interlock circuit,according to
areportbythe Rail Accident
Investigation Branch.
TheJubilee Line train left
Finchley Road shortly after
09.00 onSeptember 1, 2018
with around 30 passengers,
and travelledforjust under a
minutetothe next stop at West
Hampsteadat speeds of upto
40mph.
Afte radoor faultat Finchley
Road,likely causedby acontrol
systemoverload because of
faults elsewhereonthe train,
the operatorbypassed the door
interlock circuit,but did not
noticesome of the train doors
werestill open as the train
departed.
RAIB found contributing
factors werethe sudden
increase in the train operator’s
workload afterrunning
automatic mode; fatigue from
his sleeping pattern; and low
blood-sugar levels from a
prolonged period withoutfood.
Thereportrecommended
London Underground makes
improvementsto doorcontrol
systems on Jubilee line trains;
improves trainingto help train
operators respondcorrec tly
when sudden increases in
workload occur while operating
trains in automatic mode;
raises operatorawareness of
the adverse effects on safety
from insufficientsleep and
inappropriate eating patterns;
and improves managementof
train faults.

TRAFFORD

PARK

EXTENSION:

Aviewof

construction

of theTrafford

Centrestop

at theend of

Manchester

Metrolink’s

TraffordPark

extension

on June 28.

Majorwork

on the island

platform

stop and

trackworkis

substantially

complete.

MIKE HADDON

Contactl essmovefor

Metrolink Manchester

CONTACTLESS bank cards can

nowbeused instead of paper

tickets onManchester’s tram

services.

Passengers areableto

‘touch in’atthe startoft heir

journey and‘touch out’at

the end using the same

card, with the farebeing

automatically calculated

based on thezones passed

through.

Not touching inat thestart

could result ina£30 charge,

while nottouching outat

the end will be chargedat

£4.60. However, if the card

is not acceptedby aticket

inspection’s device, then

travellerscould be charged

up to £100.

GreaterManchesterMayor

Andy Burnham said:“These

initiatives arethe first of

manyonour journeytowards

the integrated, London-style

transportsystemwewantto

see here.”

way- findingforpassengers.

Theconnections areaimedat

enhancing HS2’sinterchange

station asagatewaytot he

region.

Chief operating officerMark

Thurston said:“With the airport

being only six minutes from the

station, it means better options

forair tr avellers,and makes it

moreaccessibleto even more

of the UK.”

Theexactvehicular system is

still to be decided,but they will

be maintained inadedicated

maintenancefacilityalongside

the viaductonthe eastern side of

the M42 crossing.

Details of the whole scheme

arestill being finalised,and

HS2 is holdingaseries of public

events beforesubmitting

an applicationto Solihull

MetropolitanBorough Council.

WORK STARTSONATEMPORARYDEPOT:

T&W Metroisb uildinganew depotat Howden, on

NorthTyneside,which will be usedto provide extra

capacitywhile the depotat Gosforth is upgraded in

stagesforthe next generation of trains.

Thetemporarydepot is situatedonaformer

landfill siteand will beready foruse in summer

2020, when it will clean and prepareupto10Metro

trainsat atime.Itw ill also be used as the delivery

pointfor the new fleet.

CAF, Hitach iand StadlerRail ha ve been

shortlistedto build the new fleet,with the winner

due to be announced in January2020 fortrains to

be delivered from late-2021.

COMPILED BY

PAUL

BICKERDYKE

Call: 01507 529589

email: railway@

mortons.co.uk

Yo urreports and

pictures aremostwelcome.

Highlycompetitiverates

arepaid,especially if

exclusivetoTheRM.