Tyne and Wear Metro control room to receive £12m

A before and after view of the Metro control room, the upgrade will be the biggest in it's 38-year history. Credit: Nexus

The Tyne and Wear Metro control room is to receive £12m of investment; the biggest upgrade in it's 38-year history.

Nexus, the owner and operator of the Metro, is to install a new computerised signalling control system in it's South Gosforth control room.

Metro services will face some disruption due to the changes. On Saturday 4 August no Metro services will run between Benton and St James from 8pm. A replacement bus service is to run instead.

Services on Saturday 4 August will also finish early depending on the station, with some stations not running any services after 10.30pm. No replacement bus services are scheduled for the early end to services.

On the morning of Sunday 5 August Metro services won't run until 10am although replacement buses will be in operation for the duration of the morning.

The Metro control board is to be upgraded to a computerised system. Credit: Nexus

Passenger information delay screens will also be affected. Nexus has said it's website and social media channels will provide updates to passengers leading up to and during the disruption.

Commenting on the Metro upgrade Tobyn Hughes, managing director of Nexus, said; "This £12m project is the biggest overhaul of technology in the Metro control room for almost 40 years.

"The investment brings our signalling control systems into the digital age and it will be of huge benefit to Metro operations."