Howdon depot
Location
LocationHowdon, North Tyneside
England
Coordinates54°59′46″N 1°29′10″W / 54.996°N 1.486°W / 54.996; -1.486
OS gridNZ328669
Characteristics
OwnerTyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive
OperatorTyne and Wear Metro
TypeLight rail
Roads12
Rolling stockClass 599 Metrocar (2020–)
History
OpenedOctober 2020 (2020-10)
OriginalTyne and Wear Metro

Howdon depot is a light rail facility used by the Tyne and Wear Metro in Howdon, Tyne and Wear, England. The depot was built as a satellite depot of South Gosforth depot, which is being refurbished between 2020 and 2024. Construction on Howdon Depot completed in August 2020, with the first train entering in November 2020.[1] The original intention was for Howdon to be a temporary depot, but future upgrades to the South Shields line, may mean the depot becomes permanent.

History

The construction of Howdon depot on a former landfill site in Howdon, North Tyneside was completed in 2020.[2][3] The new depot was built by Buckingham Group Contracting as part of a £362 million package which includes a new fleet of metrocars which will be partly commissioned at Howdon.[4]

The new depot has the capacity to house 25% of the current metrocar fleet, which allows for a continuing service whilst the main depot at South Gosforth is upgraded.[5] Although the groundbreaking ceremony was in June 2019,[6] the main construction phase on the facility was started in late 2019,[7] with opening expected in July 2020, though this slipped until October 2020,[8] when work at Gosforth depot started.[9]

The depot, which is built on the former Riverside Branch (closed in 1973 and converted into a landfill site at Howdon) is equipped with ten storage roads.[10] Howdon is to be capable of accepting, and assembling, the new fleet (to be built by Stadler), although this work could also be concentrated at South Gosforth, or shared between the two sites.[11] Howdon has a maintenance shed with a single road and a pit underneath, and one shunt road adjacent to the mainline.[8]

The depot at Howdon was conceived as a temporary solution whilst South Gosforth is upgraded. However, Nexus received £100 million from the UK Government as part of its Transforming Cities Fund in 2020, which will go to the Metro Flow project. If approved, this will mean the doubling of many single sections of track on the South Shields line and at Pelaw, Hebburn, Bede and Jarrow stations. If this does occur, then the depot at Howdon will become permanent.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Howdon Depot welcomes first test train, retrieved 11 May 2021
  2. ↑ Pritchard, Robert (September 2020). "Tyne and Wear Metro at 40". Today's Railways. No. 223. Sheffield: Platform 5. p. 30. ISSN 1475-9713.
  3. ↑ Rail Engineer, 2020,'New Tyne & Wear Metro depot at Howdon', Rail Engineer Issue 185 July/August 2020
  4. ↑ Bickerdyke, Paul (August 2020). "Howdon depot nears completion". Railway Magazine. Vol. 166, no. 1, 433. Horncastle: Mortons Media. p. 68. ISSN 0033-8923.
  5. ↑ "Tyne & Wear Metro's new depot at Howdon almost ready to open". Rail Staff. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  6. ↑ Pickering, Grahame (5 May 2021). "Managing Metro's metamorphosis". Rail Magazine. No. 930. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 54. ISSN 0953-4563.
  7. ↑ Havery, Gavin (1 January 2020). "Work started on temporary Metro depot". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  8. 1 2 Harris, Nigel, ed. (21 October 2020). "Satellite depot aids Metro maintenance". Rail Magazine. No. 916. Peterborough: Bauer Media. p. 22. ISSN 0953-4563.
  9. ↑ Sherratt, Philip (September 2020). "Metro set for new fleet transformation". Modern Railways. Vol. 77, no. 864. Stamford: Key Publishing. p. 72. ISSN 0026-8356.
  10. ↑ Beardsley, Ian (December 2020). "Stadler takes over Metro maintenance". Today's Railways. No. 226. Sheffield: Platform 5. p. 20. ISSN 1475-9713.
  11. ↑ Shirres, David, ed. (November 2019). "New Tyne and Wear Depot at Howdon". Rail Engineer. Coalville: Rail Media (179): 40. OCLC 67701855.
  12. ↑ Sherratt, Philip (September 2020). "Metro set for new fleet transformation". Modern Railways. Vol. 77, no. 864. Stamford: Key Publishing. p. 72–73. ISSN 0026-8356.
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