Repairs are planned after a cracked rail led to delays for commuters on the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle.
Nexus, the operators of Tyne and Wear Metro, confirmed that engineers have carried out an assessment of the section of rail that links their Gosforth depot to the main Metro line at Long Benton where a section of rail was found to be cracked.
A temporary 15kph speed restriction in place on the section of line between South Gosforth and Long Benton this morning (December 14) which led to delays to some services.
Read more: CCTV footage of wanted suspect released after Sunderland murder
Nexus tweeted the following early this morning, confirming that the start to services would be delayed following the reports of the cracked rail.
They said: "Trains will not be starting service until around 5am. This is while we investigate reports of a cracked track in the Gosforth area.
"Sorry for any delay this will cause in your journey this morning."
The section of rail which has broken is set to be replaced later today and engineers are at the site monitoring the situation.
A Nexus spokesperson said: “A crack was found this morning in a section of rail that links our Gosforth depot to the main Metro line at Long Benton.
“A detailed assessment has been carried out by our engineers and repairs are being planned to take place as soon as possible.
“As a precaution there is a temporary 15kph speed restriction in place on the section of line between South Gosforth and Long Benton. This has resulted in some delays to services.
“Safety is our top priority. We have engineers at site monitoring this issue continuously and we will confirm the plan to replace the damaged section of rail later today.”
Read next:
North East weather hour-by-hour Met Office forecast for Sunday after snowfall overnight
Where your Cold Weather Payment temperatures are recorded by DWP for the North East
Newcastle CAB fears people will die this winter as first cold snap hits city
Heating on all the time or not? Martin Lewis answers age-old question
