Continued modernisation works on the Tyne and Wear Metro has seen the station at South Shields closed for five weeks whilst platform 2 at Chichester will be closed for six months from the start of November. A new bus and train interchange is being constructed at South Shields which necessitates track and signalling upgrades.
South Shields station was closed from Monday 1st October with all trains terminated and starting from Chichester instead until Saturday 3rd November. A replacement bus service is in operation although passengers have been warned to add an additional 10-15 minutes onto their journeys during this period.
Then once South Shields reopens platform 2 at Chichester will be closed from Sunday 4th November until the interchange works are completed in August 2019. This means that trains from South Shields will not be able to call at Chichester but going to South Shields will be unaffected.
Tobyn Hughes, Managing Director of Nexus, said: “The £21m new transport interchange is a really exciting development for South Shields. We are now at a key stage where we need to get the Metro tracks and signals set up so that our trains can stop at the new interchange when it opens in 2019. We have to close the line between South Shields and Chichester for four weeks from 1 October so that the work can be done safely and effectively. We will also have to close platform two at Chichester Metro station until August 2019. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this will cause to our customers in South Tyneside. The long term benefit will be a brighter, better and more modern transport hub in South Shields, which we think will attract more people into the town for shopping and leisure.”
Construction of the interchange is part of a £100 million South Shields regeneration masterplan and began in April. The project receive £9.4 million from the Local Growth Deal through the North East Local Enterprise Partnership.