I went on the new Tyne and Wear Metro train on its first day, and these are my thoughts

Dubbed as a new era for local transport in the North East, the new trains are made specifically for the Metro system.

After initially being announced in 2019, the new trains have seen a series of setbacks throughout their time in development and after the public were initially told they would be able to ride the new stock by the end of 2023. Late deliveries and additional testing were marked as the reasons behind some of the delays getting them into public service.

However, December 2024 has rolled around, as are the wheels on the first train to hit the system.

On Wednesday, December 18 the first of the new fleet from Swiss brand Stadler took to the tracks as a shuttle service between Monkseaton on the North Tyneside coast and Pelaw, where the line splits into lines serving Sunderland and communities on the southern bank of the river Tyne.

After all the delays and setbacks with the fleet, having one train carrying the public by December 2024 may not be what Nexus initially wanted, but the trains themselves are as fresh as anyone would hope - and heading from Newcastle towards Pelaw on opening day, I was one of the first few to try out the new trains.

A much smoother, quieter ride is always appreciated, and this is what you get from the new stock, which feel decades ahead of the offerings across the majority of the system at the moment - mainly because they are decades older at this point!

Feeling lighter and more spacious than their older counterparts, the new stock also come with USB ports, sliding steps when doors open for accessibility and a different seating layout to maximise space. Long gone are the days of face-to face-seating across most carriages. These new options feel much closer to the London Underground with the majority of seating on the edges of the space, facing into the main walkway.

New live screens also show where the train is in real-time, as well as the next handful of stations on the line as well as an image in the bottom corner showing how busy each part of the train is - ideal for those wanting to sit down when one part of the train is much busier than others.

Brand new seat and glass divider patterns across the train also give the new line of trains a fresh, sleek look to bring the system into the modern era.

Will this be a new era for public transport in the North East as a whole? Right now it is too early to know, but for now the North East public can say they finally have carriages which rival the best transport systems in Europe.