Two more Metro trains enter service
Two new Tyne and Wear Metro trains have arrived in the north-east of England as part of a £362m fleet expected to be in service by the end of next year.
The 16th and 17th units in the Stadler fleet, out of a total 46 to be built, were delivered to the Metro's Gosforth depot early on Friday.
The first of the Swiss-made trains entered service in December as the modern carriages are gradually rolled out.
Five of the new fleet are now running on weekdays, with one train also operating at weekends.
They are replacing the struggling carriages that have served the Metro network since it opened in 1980 and have become increasingly failure-prone, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The new trains have new features including phone charging points, climate control, and a sliding step at every door.
Metro operator Nexus says it still expects to have half of the new fleet in service by the end of 2025 and all of the new trains by the end of 2026.
Major projects director Paul Welford said it was the "biggest project" in the Metro's history.
"Stadler will be delivering around 16 more new trains from their factory in Switzerland this calendar year," he said.
"They have built more than two-thirds of the 46 new trains that we have on order."
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