The major project to replace 1.6km of track on the Tyne and wear Metro in the Gateshead area has been completed on target. This is just the first phase of an £8 million project south of the River Tyne and is part of the overall Metro all change modernisation programme which will cost a total of £350 million.
The lines around Gateshead were closed for three weekends in April and May with the track replaced between Gateshead Stadium and Felling stations. 2,300 new railway sleepers were also installed along with 8,000 tonnes of new track ballast.
Michael Ellison, Acting Director of Rail Infrastructure at Nexus, said: “This was vital modernisation work to ensure that a key section of line in Gateshead can carry Metro trains for many years to come. We’re investing £8m in new Metro tracks south of the Tyne and I’m grateful to our customers for their patience while the work was carried out. We packed a huge amount of work into three weekends to replace a total of 1.6 kilometres of Metro line. Working at weekends ensures that we can keep lines open on Metro’s busiest days between Monday and Friday.”