Donated train puts fire crews on the right track for emergency response training

This week, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s Training Centre took delivery of an extra special donation.

Here’s a few clues. It travelled 11-miles between Howdon and Washington. It weighs a mammoth 40-tonnes and measures 29 metres in length; and is known only as No. 4019.

Any ideas? Well, it’s a yellow Metro carriage kindly being donated to TWFRS by Nexus. It will form an integral part of the fire and rescue service’s operational training facilities.

In preparation for its final journey the train carriage was meticulously placed on to a low loading articulated wagon at Nexus’s North Shields depot and later transported to the service’s Barmston Mere Training Centre in Washington.

Upon arrival, using a 22-metre-long ramp, it was then positioned on to a 38-metre stretch of purpose-built rail track, which will be No. 4019’s new permanent home.

By having the Metro carriage on-site, it allows the training team to recreate different real-to-life scenarios that TWFRS crews regularly encounter, for example, enabling the firefighters to practice essential exercises including Road Traffic Collisions (RTC) and Breathing Apparatus (BA) training.

This will be a vital asset for all operational firefighters including members of our TWFRS Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team, and enable crews to also take part in joint training exercises with external blue light partners.

To add to the realism there will be a concrete platform, a tunnel, and an imitation ticket machine. The training team can do multiple rescue exercises, on and off the train, and simulate fires through cosmetic smoke and fire.
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Area Manager Ken Corbett of Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said:

“We would like to pay our gratitude to Nexus for their kind donation. The Metro carriage will provide an essential resource for our fire and rescue teams, who tirelessly train all year round in recreated real-life environments that help to fashion scenarios for firefighters to gain firsthand training.

“This will also benefit the residents of Tyne and Wear, as they will be safe in the knowledge that firefighters helping to keep them and their families safe from harm: have access to some of the best state of the art training facilities available in the region.”
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Cathy Massarella, Managing Director of Nexus, said: “We’re delighted to see this decommissioned Metro train going to support such important training.

“When the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service got in contact with us about acquiring one of the used carriages we had no hesitation in saying yes.

“This train will now play a vital role in supporting firefighter training across a range of different scenarios. It will undoubtedly prove really useful for them in recreating some of the scenarios they may have to deal with one day.

“The old Metro fleet has served our region well for more than 45 years but it’s now making way for the new generation of Metro trains. We’ve already donated the very first Metro prototype to the Stephenson Museum in North Tyneside, and we now have one going to very good use at the fire and rescue service HQ in Washington. We can’t wait to see the firefighters using the old train for their training programme.”
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Paul Patrick, Managing Director of Stadler Rail Service UK, said: “The trains that served the Tyne and Wear Metro for more than 40 years were of immense practical benefit to the north east region. On a social level, they facilitated jobs, boosted economic growth and supported social cohesion. But for individuals, they simply got people to where they needed to be – work, the shops, a night out, a trip to the beach or going to see their nan.

“Now, we are really pleased that one of the trains will continue to be of practical use: enhancing the training experience for Fire and Rescue Service personnel, supporting their life-saving work and providing an invaluable service to the community”.

It is hoped that over the next few weeks TWFRS firefighters will start implementing No. 4019 as part of their wider training programme.

TWFRS Authority

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