Newcastle United fans travelling to today's match at St James's Park have been given the all-clear to travel by Metro after emergency repairs to power lines were completed ahead of schedule.
There were fears that people travelling to their team's Premier League clash against Manchester United would have to allow extra time for their journey or make alternative arrangements after the Metro line went out of service between Gateshead Stadium and Jarrow/Brockley Whins due to a severe overhead line failure in the Pelaw area earlier in the week.
A total 800 metres of overhead wire came down between Pelaw and Hebburn at around 6am on Thursday, causing travel chaos on both yellow and green lines for many who rely on the service in South Tyneside, and Metro operators Nexus expected the closure to still be in effect on Sunday.
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However Nexus has now confirmed that the emergency repairs are complete ahead of schedule and services have resumed between Gateshead Stadium and Jarrow/Brockley Whins this morning.
Metro Infrastructure Director, Stuart Clarke, said: “I’m pleased to confirm that Metro services have resumed this morning between Gateshead Stadium and Jarrow, and Gateshead Stadium and Brockley Whins. We understand the significant inconvenience this has caused for our customers and would like to take this opportunity to apologise once again for what happened.
“Around 6am on Thursday 30 March, a total of 800 metres of overhead wire along with some supporting infrastructure came down. This was extensive damage over a wide area and caused major disruption on our network. The repair work was particularly complicated due to the fact it was adjacent to the Network Rail overhead lines, which meant we needed special agreements in place on both sides in order to proceed with the work. Our engineers worked around the clock to rectify this issue safely and get the service back up and running.”
Live service updates are published on the Metro Twitter page @My_Metro and from the Nexus website www.nexus.org.
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