 | |
  Location in Tyne and Wear, England | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Howdon, North Tyneside England |
| Coordinates | 54°59′46″N1°29′10″W / 54.996°N 1.486°W |
| OS grid | NZ328669 |
| Characteristics | |
| Owner | Tyne and Wear PTE |
| Operator | Tyne and Wear Metro |
| Type | Light rail |
| Rolling stock | |
| History | |
| Opened | October 2020 |
| Original | Tyne and Wear Metro |
Howdon Depot is a vehicle cleaning, maintenance and stabling facility used by the Tyne and Wear Metro, in Howdon, North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England.
The depot was constructed on the site of a former landfill, by Buckingham Group Contracting, as a temporary satellite of South Gosforth depot, ahead of refurbishment work commencing. [1] A groundbreaking ceremony took place in June 2019, [2] with the main construction phase commencing in late 2019. [3] Opening was initially expected in July 2020, [4] [5] [6] but this was delayed, with the depot becoming operational in December 2020, [7] [8] [9]
The depot has the capacity to house 25% of the current Metrocar fleet, which allowed for a continuing service whilst the main depot at South Gosforth was upgraded. Construction of the new 12-acre (49,000 m2) South Gosforth depot completed in January 2024. [10] [11] [12] It is equipped with ten storage roads, and is capable of accepting and assembling the new fleet of Class 555 Metro currently being constructed by Stadler. [13] [14] It also features a maintenance shed with a single road and a pit underneath, as well as one shunt road. [7]
The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland. It has been described as the "first modern light rail system in the United Kingdom". The system is currently both owned and operated by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive (Nexus), thus is fully under public ownership and operation.
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The British Rail Class 600 Breeze was a proposed class of hydrogen fuel cell-powered multiple units that was to have been converted from existing BREL Class 321 electric multiple units. The project commenced in 2018, but was cancelled in 2022 before any conversions took place.
The British Rail Class 555 Metro is a class of electric multiple unit, manufactured by Swiss company Stadler Rail, that will enter into service in 2024 on the Tyne and Wear Metro. It will replace the original Tyne and Wear Metrocar rolling stock, which have been in use since 1980. To facilitate operation of the Class 555, a new Metro Fleet Depot in Gosforth has been built, and 40 of the 60 stations are having platform heights modified. Metro operator Nexus has consulted with both drivers and passengers on the fine details of cab and carriage interior design. Costing a total of £362 million, the first of the 46 units are expected to enter into service in late 2024.
The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) is a proposed train, railway infrastructure and technology testing facility, located in Onllwyn, Wales, where the site sits on the border between Neath Port Talbot and Powys.
The CDA wagon was a type of hopper railway wagon used by British Rail, and then the privatised railway, to move china clay (kaolin) in South West England. The CDA was based on the same design as the HAA wagons which were used to transport coal, with the prototype CDA being a conversion of the HAA type. The wagons were used for 35 years being introduced in 1988, and withdrawn from use in 2023. Two examples of the type have been preserved.
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Media related to Howdon depot at Wikimedia Commons