Metro-Cammell

Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company

Company type	Private
Industry	Railway rolling stock manufacturing
Predecessor	Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company
Founded	1929
Founder	Merger of Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company and Cammell Laird and Company
Defunct	2005
Fate	Acquired by GEC Alsthom in May 1989; Washwood Heath plant closed in 2005; demolished in 2019
Headquarters	Birmingham , England, United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom and international markets including Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Africa, Malawi, Nigeria, Zambia, Pakistan, Jamaica, Mexico
Products	Railway carriages, locomotives, railway wagons, Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs), electric multiple units (EMUs), bus bodies (historically)
Parent	GEC Alsthom (from 1989)

Metro-Cammell, officially known as the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company (MCCW), was a British manufacturer specializing in railway carriages, locomotives, and railway wagons. The company initially operated out of Saltley before relocating to Washwood Heath, Birmingham. In May 1989, it was acquired by GEC Alsthom, and its Washwood Heath facility ceased operations in 2005, with demolition completed in early 2019.

The firm provided rolling stock both within the UK and overseas, serving clients such as Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway and the Kowloon–Canton Railway (currently the East Rail line). Its products also featured on the Channel Tunnel and the Tyne and Wear Metro. Additionally, Metro-Cammell manufactured locomotives for Malaysia's Keretapi Tanah Melayu, as well as diesel and electric locomotives for rail networks in South Africa, Malawi, Nigeria, the Trans-Zambezi Railway, and Pakistan. Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) were supplied to the Jamaica Railway Corporation and Mexico's National Railways. The company was responsible for constructing most of the mid-20th-century London Underground rolling stock and developed the Blue Pullman trainsets for British Railways.

Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company

Established in 1863 under the name Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company, it succeeded Messrs. Joseph Wright and Sons. Joseph Wright had crafted coaches for the London and Southampton Railway in 1837 and the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838. By 1845, he transferred his carriage manufacturing operations from London to Birmingham, acquiring a plot of land in Saltley close to the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway. In 1854, the company constructed twelve carriages for New South Wales’ Sydney to Parramatta railway line—the first public railway in Australia—which commenced service in 1855. Several of these historic coaches are preserved at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum.

Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company

In 1902, the company merged with four other carriage and wagon manufacturers: Ashbury Railway Carriage and Iron Company Ltd, Brown, Marshalls and Company Ltd., Lancaster Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd., and Oldbury Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Ltd., forming the Metropolitan Amalgamated Railway Carriage and Wagon Company.

During World War I, Metropolitan secured contracts to produce British Army tanks, manufacturing all 400 units of the Mark V tank as well as 700 improved Mark V* tanks—recognized among the most advanced heavy tanks deployed during the conflict.

In 1917, Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Wagon Company collaborated with Vickers Limited to jointly manage British Westinghouse. By 1919, Vickers took full ownership of this entity, renaming it Metropolitan-Vickers. The company was rebranded as the Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company by 1926. Subsequently, in 1929, its railway rolling stock division merged with Cammell Laird and Company, creating Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company, a joint venture owned by Vickers and Cammell Laird.

Beyond rail vehicles, MCCW also engaged in bus body manufacturing; in 1932, its bus body division combined forces with Weymann Motor Bodies to establish Metro Cammell Weymann. Throughout World War II, Metro produced military vehicles including the Valentine tank and the Light Tank Mk VIII. The Saltley plant was closed in 1962, with administrative functions consolidated at Washwood Heath by 1967.

Takeover by Alstom

In May 1989, the railway division was acquired by GEC Alsthom (currently known as Alstom). The last rolling stock manufactured at the Washwood Heath facility prior to its 2005 shutdown consisted of the Class 390 Pendolino tilting trains, produced as part of the West Coast Main Line upgrade.

Heavy Rail

• Southern Railway "Brighton Belle" EMU
• Southern Railway "Crystal Palace" EMU
• Southern Railway "Coulsdon North & Sutton stock" EMU
• LNER Tyneside electric units
• LNER Shenfield line electric units (including driving motors and trailers)
• LNER Glossop line electric units (comprising driving motors and trailers)
• The Blue Pullman
• Metro-Cammell Lightweight diesel multiple unit
• British Rail Class 101 diesel multiple unit
• British Rail Class 111 diesel multiple unit
• British Rail Class 151 diesel multiple unit
• British Rail Class 156 "Super Sprinter" diesel multiple unit
• British Rail Class 373 "TGV" electric multiple unit
• British Rail Class 465/2/9 "Networker" electric multiple units
• British Rail Class 466 "Networker" electric multiple unit
• British Rail Class 483 electric multiple unit (initially London Underground 1938 Stock)
• British Rail Class 503 electric multiple unit
• British Rail Mark 4 coaching stock
• Arlanda Express (X3) electric multiple unit
• Via Rail Renaissance Fleet
• MTR Metro Cammell EMU (AC) (used on Hong Kong East Rail line; leased to MTR following Kowloon–Canton Railway merger)

London Underground

• London Underground Standard Stock (serving Bakerloo, Central, Piccadilly, Northern lines)
• London Underground 1935 Stock (Central line)
• London Underground 1938 Stock (Northern, Bakerloo, Piccadilly, East London, Central lines)
• London Underground R49 & R59 Stock (District line)
• London Underground 1959 Stock (initially Piccadilly, later Bakerloo and Northern lines)
• London Underground 1962 Stock (Central line)
• London Underground 1967 Stock (Victoria line)
• London Underground C69 and C77 Stock (Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines)
• London Underground 1972 Stock (Bakerloo line)
• London Underground 1973 Stock (Piccadilly line)
• London Underground D78 Stock (District line)
• London Underground 1983 Stock (Jubilee line)
• London Underground 1986 Stock (Central line)
• London Underground 1995 Stock (Northern line)
• London Underground 1996 Stock (Jubilee line)
• London Underground battery-electric locomotives

Other Networks

• Second generation rolling stock for Glasgow Subway, Scotland
• Tyne and Wear Metrocars (Tyne and Wear Metro, England)
• MTR Metro Cammell EMU (DC) (Kwun Tong line, Tsuen Wan line, Island line, Tseung Kwan O line, and Disneyland Resort line, Hong Kong – operated by the MTR)
• Birmingham Maglev (Birmingham International Airport) – three carriages constructed; operated from 1984 until 1995

External links

• Historical Model Railway Society archives on MCW, Butterley, Derbyshire
• Official Metro-Cammell website