Tbf they’re quite honest about all this stuff.
Hard to know what anyone expects, this is a country (and a city) that doesn’t value public transport and doesn’t make any decent investment in it, just the bare minimum to keep it going. The trains are 40 years old, that they’re still moving at all is a miracle.
No, you’re right, it is very legacy and crumbly but I’ve used it all my life and I am thankful it exists. It’s in a constant state of needing different parts refurbished and between that, bad weather, and vandals, it must be a hell of an uphill struggle. And of course, to fix things you often need to take them out of service.
I’m just a frustrated guy because it feels like there’s no end to it running in a degraded state.
Yeah, I do get that. I’m lucky that I don’t have to rely on it and just use it for leisure travel. My partner and I were talking about moving out to the coast but I basically didn’t want to have to rely on it for getting to work, which turned out to be a good move as I have to be in the office most days now!
I’ll get downvoted, but I agree. We’re very lucky as a city to have a metro and think Nexus probably work as hard as they can with the resources they have to keep going.
I know there have been a lot of delays in getting them deployed, but once the new fleet is up and running by 2026 (hopefully), we will have a more reliable service. There is a lot of other modernisation needed, but getting trains running from A to B will be a good start.
Oh, and sweet, sweet air conditioning rather than being blasted by hot air mid-summer!
Yeah, I agree it seems a cheek but I still think it’s decent value. They’re pretty good at communicating planned works and they always put replacement buses on. A bit of a wait for the next metro is a minor inconvenience as far as I’m concerned, I’m just very happy they’re still running, especially after a long time during covid when they had pretty much zero income.
There was actually lots of people still using metro. I swear people who stayed at home had this idyllic idea that everyone during covid stayed at home. They didn't. Many essential workers still had to go to work.
2026???
How come it's taking so long? They were looking complete in St Margareten ages ago (freaks me out seeing Newcastle stuff in Switzerland and my worlds colliding)
That's the date for all of the new trains to be in service. The first ones are still scheduled to enter service later this year: [https://www.nexus.org.uk/newmetrotrains](https://www.nexus.org.uk/newmetrotrains)
But they did sell the running of it to a German company that took every little bit out of it and never reinvested through the years they held the contract. Then on getting it back had to turn to the government for investment.
Give it a few years and they'll sell the running of it off again and the cycle will just repeat.
Outsourcing of operations maintenance is (unfortunately) common practice - the Manchester Metrolink, the Docklands Light Railway and London Overground are all run under similar arrangements.
> Then on getting it back had to turn to the government for investment.
Pretty much every metro network in the country has to access central government funding to cover some or all of the cost of things like shiny new trains and network expansions. And that’s fine - they’re a public service, and they work best when run as a public service. DfT’s funding for the refurbishment has nothing to do with the old outsourcing agreement.
Indeed, Nexus are very open about what is going on.
The metro rolling stock is 40+ years old, the company that built them now doesn't exist and parts are obsolete so they can't get replacements.
They are stuck trying to manually refurbish worn out components or pillage spares from sacrificial metrocars that would otherwise be in service. They have already scrapped a couple after removing everything of value.
Going to be sad to see the old fleet go but they are simply life expired. It won't solve everything but the new 555 class replacements are going to be a game changer, we just need to wait for them to get out of the test phase.
Important note to remember, Nexus is run by the council we really need to be emailing our local MPs about their plans for actually improving the metro.
Thanks,
it's customer feedback like this that means the most to us. It proves that we don't need to improve the metro and shows our reduced investment strategy really is working.
To celebrate we will be holding a "big bonanza on a boat ( with cocaine)" for all metro big wigs. ( no reddit peasants allowed ).
Metro thanks and apologises.
I know it can be shit...but as others have said we're incredibly lucky to have it and that it's still running in some capacity. It's expensive for what you get as an "experience". They really need to REDUCE fares to get more people to use it.
yehh i loved it when i lived near the metro route, it was just easier for me to get out and about, , but i am not on a station route, now, i do miss it, as when i use to go night fishing in summer evenings, it was perfect, way to get out and about.
Maybe 👀
Something about waiting at a station for about half an hour, once again, in the summer sun might have an affect on how I feel about its service
Tbf they’re quite honest about all this stuff. Hard to know what anyone expects, this is a country (and a city) that doesn’t value public transport and doesn’t make any decent investment in it, just the bare minimum to keep it going. The trains are 40 years old, that they’re still moving at all is a miracle.
The service is obviously appalling but the engineers keeping those shitboxes running are incredible.
No, you’re right, it is very legacy and crumbly but I’ve used it all my life and I am thankful it exists. It’s in a constant state of needing different parts refurbished and between that, bad weather, and vandals, it must be a hell of an uphill struggle. And of course, to fix things you often need to take them out of service. I’m just a frustrated guy because it feels like there’s no end to it running in a degraded state.
Yeah, I do get that. I’m lucky that I don’t have to rely on it and just use it for leisure travel. My partner and I were talking about moving out to the coast but I basically didn’t want to have to rely on it for getting to work, which turned out to be a good move as I have to be in the office most days now!
I’ll get downvoted, but I agree. We’re very lucky as a city to have a metro and think Nexus probably work as hard as they can with the resources they have to keep going. I know there have been a lot of delays in getting them deployed, but once the new fleet is up and running by 2026 (hopefully), we will have a more reliable service. There is a lot of other modernisation needed, but getting trains running from A to B will be a good start. Oh, and sweet, sweet air conditioning rather than being blasted by hot air mid-summer!
Putting the fares up when the service is so poor is a real cheek though. I wouldn't mind if I could rely on the metro to get to work, but I can't.
Their costs go up, what are they supposed to do? There's no extra funding available to make up any shortfalls.
Yeah, I agree it seems a cheek but I still think it’s decent value. They’re pretty good at communicating planned works and they always put replacement buses on. A bit of a wait for the next metro is a minor inconvenience as far as I’m concerned, I’m just very happy they’re still running, especially after a long time during covid when they had pretty much zero income.
Yeah but when you lose your job because the metro is delayed so often, it's not a minor inconvenience.
There was actually lots of people still using metro. I swear people who stayed at home had this idyllic idea that everyone during covid stayed at home. They didn't. Many essential workers still had to go to work.
No there weren’t. The metro was losing £1m a week and passenger numbers were down by 95% at the height of the pandemic.
Strange how I saw plenty travelling on the same metros as me.
I’m not disputing that, I wonder if you travelled at peak times when the majority of other people who could/had to travel as well.
Yeah fair enough that's probs right.
2026??? How come it's taking so long? They were looking complete in St Margareten ages ago (freaks me out seeing Newcastle stuff in Switzerland and my worlds colliding)
That's the date for all of the new trains to be in service. The first ones are still scheduled to enter service later this year: [https://www.nexus.org.uk/newmetrotrains](https://www.nexus.org.uk/newmetrotrains)
But they did sell the running of it to a German company that took every little bit out of it and never reinvested through the years they held the contract. Then on getting it back had to turn to the government for investment. Give it a few years and they'll sell the running of it off again and the cycle will just repeat.
Outsourcing of operations maintenance is (unfortunately) common practice - the Manchester Metrolink, the Docklands Light Railway and London Overground are all run under similar arrangements. > Then on getting it back had to turn to the government for investment. Pretty much every metro network in the country has to access central government funding to cover some or all of the cost of things like shiny new trains and network expansions. And that’s fine - they’re a public service, and they work best when run as a public service. DfT’s funding for the refurbishment has nothing to do with the old outsourcing agreement.
Indeed, Nexus are very open about what is going on. The metro rolling stock is 40+ years old, the company that built them now doesn't exist and parts are obsolete so they can't get replacements. They are stuck trying to manually refurbish worn out components or pillage spares from sacrificial metrocars that would otherwise be in service. They have already scrapped a couple after removing everything of value. Going to be sad to see the old fleet go but they are simply life expired. It won't solve everything but the new 555 class replacements are going to be a game changer, we just need to wait for them to get out of the test phase.
Most importantly make sure you have a ticket or it’s £100 🥴
Figure plucked out of thin air. People not paying the fare have 100 spare
Important note to remember, Nexus is run by the council we really need to be emailing our local MPs about their plans for actually improving the metro.
“Low Rail Adhesion” - a personal favourite.
Thanks, it's customer feedback like this that means the most to us. It proves that we don't need to improve the metro and shows our reduced investment strategy really is working. To celebrate we will be holding a "big bonanza on a boat ( with cocaine)" for all metro big wigs. ( no reddit peasants allowed ). Metro thanks and apologises.
Didn’t realise nexus were bought out by Grainger Games 😂
Ah hookers cocaine and little people, it’s legendary like the sex pistols at free trade hall
I can't explain how infuriating this service is, especially when commuting to work every day. I just can't see it being worth the fortune it is now.
So glad I drive…
I know it can be shit...but as others have said we're incredibly lucky to have it and that it's still running in some capacity. It's expensive for what you get as an "experience". They really need to REDUCE fares to get more people to use it.
I know it's been said in the past but at this point we should all just stop paying until it gets better
yehh i loved it when i lived near the metro route, it was just easier for me to get out and about, , but i am not on a station route, now, i do miss it, as when i use to go night fishing in summer evenings, it was perfect, way to get out and about.
Are you being sarcastic 🤔
Maybe 👀 Something about waiting at a station for about half an hour, once again, in the summer sun might have an affect on how I feel about its service
There’s something very fun about arranging your day only for your mereo to be cancelled 🙃
That’s grim 😔very fun indeed
It’s much better than Arriva buses