Tyne and Wear Metro services hit by overhead line damage

Services to South Hylton on the Tyne and Wear Metro have been suspended since Friday 22nd May after a freight train brought the overhead wires down in the Sunderland area. Extensive damage was caused with Network Rail engineers on site seeking to repair this damage to allow a full service to resume.

The actual damage occurred in the tunnel through Sunderland station on the part of the route which is shared between the Tyne and Wear Metro and Northern services. The repairs are being undertaken by Network Rail as this section is their responsibility, although Nexus have offered their own maintenance team to assist.

The repairs are said to be complex not helped by both the age and low clearance of the tunnel.

Whilst the work continues services are terminating at St Peter’s with a replacement bus then working from there serving all stations to South Hylton.

No date for the completion of the work has been given but a statement on the Nexus website says they are expected to take “several more days

Tyne and Wear Metro