STANDARD LIVERIES
The first Metrocars to be delivered in 1975, 4001 & 4002, originally carried a livery comprising of:
Lower half - Yellow
Upper half - Cream
Central stripe - Maroon
This gave way shortly after their delivery to a revised livery that consisted of:
Lower half - Newcastle cadmium yellow
Upper half - Brilliant white
Central stripe - French blue
This change of livery so soon after delivery reflected a change in the PTEs bus fleet. This livery was carried over to the production fleet (4003-4090) and remained the standard livery for the fleet until 1995. In line with the ongoing research into the mid-life refurbishment of the fleet during the early 1990s, a number of new 'standard' livery designs were tried, with at least three of these seeing the light of day. The images below show an approximation of two of these liveries.
4087 c.1992
4045 c.1994
The final choice for the new standard livery was somewhat more striking than those shown above! It consisted of: full yellow ends (cab front) with either red, blue or green for the main bodyside colour. Each set of passenger doors additionally had a yellow triangle on the lower half with the 'Mblem' logo within them. The livery was reportedly designed by "A leading London Design House" according to the Newcastle Evening Chronicle! These new liveries were first unveiled during April 1995. The first units to carry the liveries were:
Red - 4065
Blue - 4086
Green - 4082
Repainting of the fleet took just over five years, and was largely carried out alongside the ongoing mid-life refurbishment program, the last of the former PTE yellow and white liveries not disappearing until late 2000.
The majority of the fleet still carry this livery. However, livery changes are afoot once again. This time though, the changes are only minor in nature. To help aid visually impaired passengers, the passenger doors are being repainted so they are all yellow, providing a better contrast with the bodyside colour. Car numbers 4074 and 4086 were the first to be outshopped in the revised livery at the beginning of July 2004. An example of this revised livery can be seen here.
STOP PRESS! 29/01/05
After completing 4 cars in the revised livery, Nexus have now outshopped car 4086 during January in another revised livery, which would suggest another new livery may be on the way. Updates to follow
NON-STANDARD LIVERIES
The first Metrocars to carry some form of non-standard livery were 4039 and 4045 during 1986. These cars were branded the 'Monergy' trains, a north east initiative between the Metro and the Department of Energy as part of the nationwide Monergy '86 Campaign. Red triangular stickers were applied to the bodysides and the front ends were painted brilliant white. An example can be seen here.
The Next cars to receive a non-standard livery were 4044 and 4051 in 1989. 4044 was outshopped in a bright (all-over) yellow colour and was branded 'Director'. This being in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Brandling Junction Railway Company. 4051 was painted an all-over claret colour and branded 'Times', this livery being a celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Newcastle and North Shields Railway Company. An approximation of both liveries is shown here:
During 1990, car number 4080 was branded in a promotional livery for the National Garden Festival, being held in Gateshead that year.
In March 1991, the first true commercially branded Metrocars appeared. 4054 and 4058 were branded in all over advertisements for the Metroland indoor funfair at Gateshead's Metrocentre. They were painted a base colour of white, with the detail being hand-painted on top of this. They took a full four weeks to complete, and when they were released into service, the PTE claimed they were the first all-over branded trains in the country. They also reportedly earned the PTE an initial £25,000, and the contract was extended!
With such a good source of additional revenue, it was hardly surprising that many Metrocars have carried the various brandings of many different companies and organisations since then. The branded cars were originally restricted to 10% of the fleet (9 cars), but this was relaxed, no doubt due to revenue considerations, and more branded units began appearing, some companies even sponsoring two cars at once. Some companies and organisations hold small PR lauch events for their branded Metrocars, usually from either the bay platform at North Shields or Airport station.
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