NEXUS has officially signed a contract with the Swiss train builder Stadler to produce the new train fleet for the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Stadler has been chosen by Nexus after an 18-month global search for the best manufacturing partner for 42 new trains to be delivered up to 2024, transforming performance and passenger experience on Metro.

The new trains will cut Metro’s high voltage power consumption by 30 per cent while promising to provide 15 times better reliability than the current fleet. Metro’s 36m passengers will benefit from features including wifi, charging points, air conditioning and a step-change in accessibility.

Among new features will be an automatic sliding step at every door of the new trains, making travel easier for Metro’s 50,000 wheelchair passengers as well as people with children’s buggies, luggage or bicycles. In 2024 the new Metro trains will completely replace the existing fleet.

The announcement of the deal awarding the multi-million pound contract to Stadler instead of the North-East firm Hitachi provoked controversy, with the Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen calling it “an absolutely disgraceful decision”.