Retired Metro driver reflects on the original fleet’s time in service

Bill Dodds from Newcastle is one of the few remaining Metro drivers who were there from day one.

Bill, 69, who retired in 2014, worked as a Metro driver for 34 years, so he knows a thing or two about the old trains, which are currently having their final week of guaranteed runs in customer service.

He said: “It’s a bit emotional to see the old trains going.

“I spent a third of a century driving them. They have been great, but they’ve done their job now.

“They were designed to last for 30 years and in the end they’ve done 46, so they have gone way beyond their lifetime and have been worked hard during that time.

“They have run for 20 hours a day for four and a half decades, in all kinds of weather,  taking people to work and for nights out. Customers will have many fond memories, especially the view from the front seats, which was always so popular.”

Bill recalls fondly what it was like to be a Metro driver when the trains were new and the system had just opened for the first time.

He added: “It was exciting to drive the trains when they were new.

“I was a young lad at the time. I was only 24. A lot of the other drivers back then were in their 50s and 60s and had started their careers with British Rail, in many cases they had been used to driving steam trains and diesel engined trains.

“It was a big leap to go from that to electric light rail trains that were on Metro. They were great days. There were always new developments. Initially it was just Haymarket to Tynemouth, but then more lines opened in stages.

“The old trains have served Tyne and Wear very well. It’s also an exciting time for the future of Metro too, with the new trains coming into service. They’re more reliable and they can pave the way for future network extensions. I think there is a great future for the Metro system now.”

Metro’s original Class 599 trains have carried 1.7 billion customer journeys since entering service in August 1980 and they have clocked up half a billion kilometres.

Metro operator Nexus said this week will be the last guaranteed chance for people to travel on the old trains.

They will be operating on the Yellow and Green Metro lines from 9.30am to 5.30pm from Monday 22 June, until 5.30pm on Friday 26 June. A full timetable for the week, for each line, can be seen below.

It will also be the last chance for customers to have the driver’s eye view when travelling on the front seats of the old Metro carriages, something which has become a much-loved cultural touchstone over the last 46 years.