The Nexus Learning Centre is an £8.4m development located in South Shields.
The first train made its way into the Learning Centre on Sunday 27 Sept, 2020. Weeks of planning all came to together after some great team work between Operations, L&D, Control Room and Depot. Everything ran smoothly on the day.
The train ran between service trains to prevent disruption to morning services. It was done to ensure all of the new equipment worked so that trains can be stabled at the Learning Centre.
Nexus, the public body which owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, will use the facility to deliver a wide range of rail infrastructure and operations training, including new Metro drivers.
It will provide training for apprentices, front line leadership and management development, ensuring that all of its 1,000 plus workforce will benefit from the new facility.
The development is being funded through a £7m grant from the Government’s Local Growth Fund Deal through the North East Local Enterprise Partnership and a £1.4m contribution by Nexus.
The new facility will include a 70 metre stretch of dual track for Nexus to carry out rail infrastructure training, including track, track points, signalling and overhead line.
The new three-storey training centre itself will eventually house a new computerised Metro driver training simulator, in preparation for the delivery of new Metrocars from 2021. It will also allow engineering staff to learn how to maintain the new trains, and for Nexus to safely and securely stable Metro trains overnight in South Shields, allowing for an earlier start of services and later evening services from South Shields when the new train fleet is brought into service in 2023.
