Metro service still suspended after glass canopy at Whitley Bay station smashed by Storm Otto

Metro services will remain suspended between Monkseaton and North Shields until the end of the week due to damage at Whitley Bay station. Credit: Nexus

A metro station will remain close until further notice following damage caused by Storm Otto.

Two panes of glass fell from the canopy of the Grade II listed station in Whitley Bay during Friday's storm.

Metro services will remain suspended between Monkseaton and North Shields until the end of the week.

Nexus, Metro’s operator, said further inspections have revealed the canopy is damaged in an area directly above the Metro line, which is why the service suspension is in place between Monkseaton and North Shields.

Whitley Bay station will be closed until Nexus has conducted all of its safety checks and has made the canopy secure.

On Friday, baker Angelika Taic, who runs The Sustenance Society bakery with her partner Ben Gray, was selling her wares at the station, when she had a lucky miss after the glass narrowly avoided falling on her.

Glass from the canopy in the Grade II listed Whitley Bay station was smashed during Storm Otto. Credit: The Sustenance Society

A replacement bus service, 900, is operating in the affected area and there is Metro ticket acceptance on local bus routes 51, 53, 54, 57, 306 and 308.

Huw Lewis, customer services director at Nexus, said: “Our engineers are working hard to get the Metro line and the station re-opened.

“Storm Otto has damaged the canopy at Whitley Bay Metro station, which means the station has had to be shut, and the Metro service suspended from North Shields to Monkseaton.

“These closures are in the interests of public safety, which is our top priority. Our thanks go to customers for their patience during this period of disruption. We don’t want to keep a major gateway into Whitley Bay closed for any longer than it has to.

“Whitley Bay’s historic station canopy is a Grade II Listed structure which we are planning to completely replace later this year.”

Nexus is in the process of appointing a contractor to completely renew the canopy, costing up to £4.5 million in the coming months.

The canopy, which was damaged during Storm Arwen, was thoroughly surveyed by at the end of 2021. Since then, Nexus engineers have carried out monthly inspections to assess the condition of the glass, as well as close-range surveys using drones with the most recent of these being in November 2022.

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