Tyne and Wear Metro control room upgrade expected to impact Easter weekend services
Tyne and Wear Metro services over the Easter weekend will be impacted by updates to the system’s control room.
Earlier this week the team behind the Tyne and Wear Metro announced an £8.8m update to the control room.
Technology which manages key assets, including Metro power supply, fire and intruder alarms, lighting, lifts, escalators, and tunnel drainage pumps, will be renewed.
The current setup was introduced in the mid-1990s.
As part of the transition, a series of days will see services impacted across the system. These will mainly be restricted to bank holidays.
The first of these will come on Easter Monday, when no trains will run throughout the system until 10am on Monday, April 6.
No trains will also run from 8:30pm on Sunday, May 3 across the system. On this day no trains will run between Pelaw and South Hylton because of National Rail works.
The following day, Monday, May 4, which is also a bank holiday, will see no trains run across the region until 10:30am.
Stuart Clarke, Infrastructure Director at Nexus, said: “This project is a major investment in new technology for our Metro control room at South Gosforth and is vital for Metro’s long-term future.
“It is a project which has been meticulously planned over the last two years to ensure the least possible amount of disruption to our customers. However, some late and early closures will be required so that we can switch across to the new digital equipment.
“The SCADA system is essential for the safe and effective operation of Metro. It enables us to remotely manage the high and low voltage power supplies and other key things like lighting, lifts, escalators and fire alarms.
“The new system will allow us to resolve infrastructure issues more effectively, which will mean less disruption for our customers.
“Where services are impacted, customers will be provided with replacement buses and I apologise in advance for the disruption. Customers are advised to be aware of the closure dates and allow plenty of extra time for their journeys.”