Section of Tyne and Wear Metro between Newcastle and Wallsend to close for nine days

A section of the Tyne and Wear Metro will be closed for nine days to allow work to take place as part of a £1.7million modernisation programme.

The line between Wallsend and St James in Newcastle will be closed from Saturday 24 August to Sunday 1 September.

It is to allow a series of structural repairs to be carried out on four Metro bridges and a section of tunnel in the Manors area of Newcastle.

Replacement buses will be running during the closure.

Works on bridges at Stoddart Street and New Bridge Street - both of which carry traffic over the Metro lines - will include grit blasting, repainting, steel work repair, waterproofing and road resurfacing.

The project is part of the £43m Nexus, which runs the Metro, is spending on infrastructure modernisation schemes this year.

Stuart Clarke, Metro Infrastructure Director, said: “This nine-day major closure forms part of our ongoing multi-million-pound programme of investment in Metro modernisation work.

“The focus of this project is on three bridges which need to undergo vital structural repair works and waterproofing. We will also be working on the entrance of the Metro tunnel near Manors, carrying out structural works.

“While there is no good time to close a large section of the Metro system, the works will improve Metro’s resilience in the future. We will do all we can to keep any disturbance to an absolute minimum, and I apologise in advance for the inconvenience this will cause.

“Customers will be provided with frequent replacement bus services throughout this work and need to allow a bit of extra time to make their journey in the area where the line is closed.”

The line will re-open to services on Monday 2 September.

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