The Tyne and Wear Metro’s first new trains in more than four decades have arrived in the North East! As part of a £362 million upgrade to the network, 46 new Swiss-built trains are arriving replace the current stock, which has been used since the Metro opened more than 40 years ago. This will boast a number of key upgrades, including air conditioning and much-improved reliability.
While this is the largest investment in the metro since it was opened in 1980, this is just the latest brick in the wall of a major upgrades to our region’s transport network! Already, we have recently enjoyed:
- £110 million upgrade to the A1 Scotswood-North Brunton when Richard first became a Minister
- £51 million upgrade to the A19
- Dozens of new state-of-the-art zero-emissions vehicles for Gateshead
However, it doesn’t end there. There is also loads more in the pipeline for our area! This includes:
- Two applications for railway lines in North West Durham (Consett-Tyne and Weardale-Crook) that I have submitted
- Blyth to Ashington railway line
- A1 upgrade at Birtley
- £20 million bid for Toft Hill bypass A68, which was received funding from the first round of Levelling Up (https://www.darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/.../1936586.../)
- £163.5m Bus Service Improvement Plan money for County Durham which will mean region wide £1 bus fares for under-22s, more and more frequent services and simpler cross-operator ticketing
Commenting, Richard Holden MP said
"Under previous Labour MPs who took the North East for granted, our public transport system did not received the money, time and attention it needs. This has now clearly changed.
"A better transport network will unleash the potential of the North East. I want to see all of these ongoing projects through to completion, and more."