As we cover two systems with the word Metro in their title, and both of them have a history of overhead line problems, this headline could be discussing either one but this time around it’s the Tyne and Wear Metro which is has seen more disruption after a 800 metre stretch of overhead came down early on Thursday 30th March.
The stretch affected by the overhead coming down was between Pelaw and Hebburn with a cause for the fault currently being investigated.
The overhead came down at around 0600 on Thursday 30th March which meant that it was not possible to run a service between Gateshead Stadium and Jarrow and from Gateshead Stadium to Brockley Whinns.
Stuart Clarke, Metro Infrastructure Director, said: “We’re sorry for the ongoing disruption to our customers. Our services through Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland are going to remain disrupted until early next week while we repair an 800-metre stretch of overhead line between Pelaw and Hebburn.
“The damage is extensive and is over a wide area. It will take us a few days to get this fixed. Our engineers are working flat out to get this problem rectified as quickly as they possibly can. The repair has been made particularly complicated by the fact that it is adjacent to the Network Rail overhead lines, and we need safety agreements in place on both sides in order to proceed.
“Customers who need to travel through the affected areas are advised to allow extra time to complete their journeys. Replacement buses are in operation when available to us, and we will have Metro ticket acceptance on local bus routes when needed.”
It had originally been expected that no services would be able to run until the start of following week but after the repairs were completed quicker than originally thought normal services resumed on Sunday 2nd April.