Half of planned new Metro trains are now in service

THE roll-out of the Tyne and Wear Metro's new trains has hit the halfway point.

- By Daniel Holland

Transport bosses announced on Thursday afternoon that 23 out of a planned 46 new trains are now available for passenger service - a year to the day since the Swiss fleet's maiden journey.

Confirmation of the milestone came as North East mayor Kim McGuinness called for every one of the Metro's old carriages to be decommissioned by next summer and for the network to increase its timetable by the close of 2026.

While long hailed as a dramatic upgrade that should radically improve the performance of the Metro system for passengers fed up with delays and cancellations, the transition to the Stadler-built fleet has not been without incident.