A huge section of the Tyne and Wear Metro is set to be closed down for five days next month.
It has been revealed that no trains will run between Tynemouth and St James stations, one of the busiest parts of the network, while engineers carry out a major set of modernisation works to prepare for the arrival of the Metro’s new £362m fleet.
The extensive closure will be in place from Monday, February 21 to Friday, February 25.
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In a letter seen by ChronicleLive, operator Nexus says that the works are “vital to secure the future of Metro for many years to come” and had been timed during the school half-term holidays to minimise disruption.
The publicly-owned operator added that the alternative to the five-day shutdown would be "months of weekend closures".
Nexus customer services director Huw Lewis wrote in the note to stakeholders that the project was necessary to ensure the new fleet can operate on Metro tracks and was being done in the “safest, most cost effective and least disruptive way possible”.
Major projects director at Nexus, Cathy Massarella, said: “We are investing £30m in in Metro’s overhead lines as we get ready for the new trains arriving at the end of the year.
“The five-day closure allows us to replace a large section of wire between Newcastle and North Tyneside, and also carry out other essential modernisation including track and embankment work.
“There is no good time to close a large section of the network and I apologise in advance for the inconvenience this will cause. Carrying out major work in the half-term break means we also avoid disrupting education for pupils who use Metro to get to school in the affected area.
“We will ensure there is a fast and reliable replacement bus service running when the Metro line is shut. We advise customers to plan their journeys in advance before travelling.”
The closure will allow for extensive overhead line renewal, track replacement, essential work on Metro bridges and embankments and vegetation management.
Train services are scheduled to go back to the usual timetable on Saturday, February 26.
The first of the Metro’s new fleet of trains, currently being build in Switzerland, are due to arrive in the North East later this year – though they will only be gradually rolled out onto tracks in 2023 and 2024.
The new trains will boast modern features like wifi connectivity, air conditioning, USB charging points, and an automatic sliding step at every door to make access easier.
They should also be 15 times more reliable than the current fleet, which has been in use since the Metro first started running 40 years ago, and will be fitted with an on-board battery that means they could keep going even in the event of an overhead power line fault.
