Tyne and Wear Metro services between Pelaw and South Hylton have been reduced after damage to a cable which powers the overhead wires on the Network Rail owned line which requires emergency repairs to allow full services to resume.
The cable was initially damaged on Tuesday 24th October with services having been reduced since. Usually five Metro services an hour run between Pelaw and South Hylton but this has had to be reduced to just two an hour until repairs are completed.
Paul Rutter, Route Director for Network Rail’s East Coast route, said: “We’re sorry for the disruption that is being caused to passengers’ journeys in the Seaburn area. Our teams are working hard to resolve the issue and have already implemented a temporary fix which allows some Tyne and Wear Metro services to run. In the meantime, we’re asking passengers to check before they travel and want to thank them for their patience and understanding while work is carried out.”
Kevin Storey, Tyne and Wear Metro Operations Director, added: “Our apologies to customers who are seeing their Metro journeys disrupted on the Sunderland line. Network Rail, who own and maintain the line, have advised us that they have to carry out urgent repairs to power supply cables. We can only run two trains per hour on the Sunderland line, instead of the usual five trains per hour. Customers will need plan ahead, allow plenty of extra time to make journeys, and be prepared for services to be a lot busier.”