METRO TRAINS BROKEN DOWN FOR RECYCLING

The end of the line

- By DANIEL HALL

METRO has served the North East for more than 40 years, with its once shiny carriages becoming tired and increasingly prone to breakdowns.

However, for many it may be hard to see the yellow and black trains, which have been a fixture of the region for so long, being broken down for recycling.

It takes less than one hour for a Metro train to be broken apart completely, before metals such as copper and steel are stripped away and sent abroad to be reused. Metals harvested during the process usually support industries such as manufacturing and construction.

Twenty-nine trains, almost a third of Metro’s current rolling stock, have been recycled so far as new Stadler Metro trains are put into service. The trains that have been recycled have been taken to a scrapyard in Bishop Auckland on articulated trucks.