Work on the Metro Flow project which has seen the line to South Shields closed since September will be going on for a week longer than planned to allow contractors extra time to complete the installation of overhead line and test the signals. The project had been said to be on-time last month but a delay is now required to ensure everything is in place to allow services to resume safely.
The line between Pelaw and South Shields has been closed since September as part of the £104 million Metro Flow project with work being undertaken to dual three sections of line to allow additional services to run and provide extra resilience to the network.
Cathy Massarella, Major Projects Director at Nexus, said: “We are very close to re-opening the Metro line between Pelaw and South Shields but our contractors need up to one more week to complete this complex project. I want to apologise to Metro customers who were looking forward to being back on trains at the start of next week and assure you we have a revised programme to make this happen as soon as possible. We’ll keep customers updated on what day next week the line will re-open.
“Metro Flow involves converting a freight line for Metro trains with both sharing the track in future. It is essential we do not rush the re-opening, so we must complete and test new signal systems fully before passenger services operate. Our frequent replacement bus service will remain in place for customers. This includes a bus that calls at all Metro stations on the route and a rapid express bus that runs from Heworth straight to Jarrow and South Shields.”
The work was scheduled to take place for 12 weeks with services originally scheduled to resume on 4th December. The project is funded through the government’s Transforming Cities Fund.