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Metrocar (Class 599)
Metro-Cammell's articulated cars, built for the Tyne and Wear Metro's opening in 1980 and derived from Duewag's German light rail cars. Each is two sections on three bogies, with a cab at each end, and they ran in pairs for 46 years, carrying 1.7 billion journeys.
Scale
91 ft (27.8 m) over couplers
Metrocar (Class 599) · schematic drawing GB Trains · gbtrains.uk/stock/t-w-metrocar/ · CC BY 4.0
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- Type
- Electric multiple unit (articulated, two sections, double-ended)
- Builder
- Metro-Cammell, Washwood Heath, Birmingham
- Built
- 1975–1981
- In service
- 1980–2026
- Lines
- Tyne and Wear Metro
- Formation
- One articulated car of two sections, 91 ft 2 in (27.8 m) over the body ends, on three bogies: a motor bogie under each cab and one under the articulation; worked in pairs
- Trains in fleet
- 90
- Top speed
- 50 mph (80 km/h)
- Power
- 1,500 V DC overhead; two 185 kW motors (Wikipedia; 187 kW, British Trams Online) · how it works
- Bogies
- the Metrocars' motor bogies, under each cab end; the Metrocars' articulation bogie, under the joint between the two sections
- Train length
- 91 ft (27.80 m)
- Car height
- 10 ft 4 in (3.148 m)
- Car width
- 8 ft 8 in (2.65 m)
- Profile
- main-line
- Seats per train
- 64
- Total capacity
- 64 seats and 2 perch seats after refurbishment (Nexus, 2010); 64 seated and 188 standing (Wikipedia)
- Status
- Withdrawn: the last guaranteed passenger runs were on Friday 26 June 2026, after the Class 555s took over (Nexus). Most have been scrapped; 4001 is preserved at the North Tyneside Steam Railway (unverified).
- Replaced by
- Class 555
Car types
| Code | Car | Length | Doors per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Section A (with the pantograph) | 45 ft 9 in13.94 m | 2 double |
| B | Section B | 45 ft 9 in13.94 m | 2 double |
Sources
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Show the 19 sources from Wikimedia Commons, British Trams Online, Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive; released by Nexus under the Freedom of Information Act and 6 more
- General arrangement of articulated vehicle (drawing 660/0004, 1:50) Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive; released by Nexus under the Freedom of Information Act, 22 March 1989 (drawing); released 4 July 201691 ft 2 in (27,800 mm) over the body ends; 34 ft 1 in (10,400 mm) bogie to articulation; 6 ft 11 in (2,100 mm) wheelbase; 8 ft 8 in (2,650 mm) wide; 11 ft 4 in (3,445 mm) over the folded pantograph; 4 ft 3 in (1,300 mm) doorways
- Seat & draughtscreen general arrangement (all trains), drawing 224-1001 rev. A Nexus (Tyne and Wear Metro); released under the Freedom of Information Act, November 2010 (drawing); released 4 July 2016seats after refurbishment; the outer bogies' place
- Rail Vehicle Accessibility: exemption application, Tyne and Wear Metro: four specialist cars Department for Transport, 2018Metro-Cammell; in service from 11 August 1980; refurbishments 1996-2000 and 2011-2015
- Light Rail Transit: A State of the Art Review, Executive Summary (DOT-UT-50009), p. 39, fig. 29 "Tyne & Wear Car" US Department of Transportation, 197691 ft 2 in (27.8 m), 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m); six axles, single-articulated, from Duewag's Type B car; 1,500 V
- Long serving Metro driver 'proud' to drive the last old train Nexus, 27 June 2026the last day, 26 June 2026; 1.7 billion journeys since August 1980
- Metrocars run for the last time (unless they don't!) British Trams Online, 27 June 2026the last planned pair, 26 June 2026; 4020 to be preserved
- Timetable revealed for last guaranteed use of Metrocars British Trams Online, June 2026the last guaranteed week, 22-26 June 2026
- Tyne and Wear Metrocar Wikipedianumbers built, works, motors, speed, liveries (cross-check only)
- Tyne and Wear Metro fleet list British Trams Online, updated 23 September 2026builder and dates, seats, motors, BSI couplers (cross-check)
- General arrangement of articulated vehicle (drawing 660/0004, 1:50) Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive; released by Nexus under the Freedom of Information Act, 22 March 1989 (drawing); released 4 July 2016, p. 1side elevation (measured): sections, doors, windows, cab, bogies, pantograph, articulation, underframe cases
- 'TW-Metro2020-Gateshead-P1660672 (51054899566).jpg' (photograph: 4039 side-on at Gateshead; CC0) Wikimedia Commons (citytransportinfo, via Flickr), 9 September 2020livery placing and colours (layout and colour only)
- 'TW-Metro-KingstonPk-LV-2020-P1660613 (51032142256).jpg' (photograph: a Metrocar pair near side-on at Kingston Park level crossing; CC0) Wikimedia Commons (citytransportinfo, via Flickr), 9 September 2020layout cross-check, the articulation, colours
- 'Newcastle Metro Railway - geograph.org.uk - 5309833.jpg' (photograph: a Metrocar pair at three-quarters; CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (Russel Wills, via Geograph), 10 March 2017the cab end's livery
- 'TW-Metro-EastBoldenLV-P1660569 (51045891451).jpg' (photograph: a Metrocar with its pantograph raised; CC0) Wikimedia Commons (citytransportinfo, via Flickr), 9 September 2020the pantograph's section
- 'Metrocar 4033, Tyne and Wear Metro depot open day, 8 August 2010 (7).jpg' (photograph: a motor bogie's side frame close up; CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (djminisite, via Flickr), 8 August 2010the motor bogie's side frame
- 'Metrocar 4033, Tyne and Wear Metro depot open day, 8 August 2010 (5).jpg' (photograph: the cab-end coupler close up; CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (djminisite, via Flickr), 8 August 2010the cab-end coupler
- 'Metrocar pantograph, Tyne and Wear Metro depot open day, 8 August 2010 (1).jpg' (photograph: a Metrocar pantograph folded, on a rig; CC BY-SA 2.0) Wikimedia Commons (djminisite, via Flickr), 8 August 2010the pantograph folded
- 'TW-Metro-IlfordRd-1990 (51033624617).png' (photograph: 4062 in the original yellow and white, 1990; CC0) Wikimedia Commons (citytransportinfo, via Flickr), 1990the original yellow and white livery (not drawn)
- A Guide to Overhead Electrification (132787-ALB-GUN-EOH-000001, rev 10) Network Rail (prepared by Alan Baxter), February 2015, p. 39the contact wire in the In operation drawing: 15 ft 5 in (4.7 m) above rail, Network Rail's normal height
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unverified
- 90 built (2 prototypes, 4001 and 4002, in 1975 and 88 production cars from 1978): Wikipedia and British Trams Online; Nexus's FOI reply (2016) gives 90 units
- Built 1975-1981 at Metro-Cammell's Washwood Heath works: Wikipedia; the DfT's 2018 note names Metro-Cammell only
- Motors: 2 x 185 kW (Wikipedia, Railway Technology) or 187 kW (British Trams Online)
- Seats: 64 and 2 perch seats after the 2010s refurbishment (Nexus's 2010 seat drawing); 68 before (British Trams Online)
- Height: Wikipedia's 10 ft 4 in (3.16 m; citing Modern Tramway, 1980) is to the roof; the GA's 11 ft 4 in (3,445 mm) and the US DOT's 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m) are over the folded pantograph
- Length over the couplers, about 93 ft 2 in (28.4 m): measured off the GA (no source prints it); 91 ft 2 in (27.8 m) is over the body ends
- The outer bogies: the GA prints 34 ft 1 in (10,400 mm) to the articulation but draws about 33 ft 2 in (10,100 mm); the figure is followed
- Wheel diameter, about 2 ft 6 in (750 mm): read off the GA's wheel circles, not printed
- The cab end on the side drawn: the GA (1989) has a window 1 ft 10 in (0.55 m) wide behind the cab; photographs of refurbished cars show it about 2 ft 6 in (0.75 m) wide on this side, and a hinged cab door on the other; the GA's is drawn
- The windows' top-light bars (140 mm below each frame's top) and frames are from photographs of 4039 (2020)
- Preserved: 4001 at the North Tyneside Steam Railway (arrived September 2025) and 4020 expected at the North East Land, Sea and Air Museums (British Trams Online, June 2026); not otherwise confirmed
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