Gateshead Flyover: Metro journeys down by 120,000 during shutdown

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Tyne and Wear Metro operator Nexus recorded 120,000 fewer journeys during the height of the Gateshead flyover crisis. 

According to analysis from Nexus, between December 19 to December 29 last year there were 120,000 fewer trips made via the Metro compared to the same period in 2023. On December 19, Nexus, on the advice of structural engineers, effectively split the Metro in two, suspending services between Monument and Gateshead Stadium.

The move was prompted by the discovery of structural concerns on a support pillar on the A167 flyover, which the Metro travels underneath. Prior to the suspension, trains had to travel at a slower speed for safety reasons. 

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The first new Tyne and Wear Metro train in service at Pelaw. Photo: Nexus. Free to reuse for all LDR partners.The first new Tyne and Wear Metro train in service at Pelaw. Photo: Nexus. Free to reuse for all LDR partners.
The first new Tyne and Wear Metro train in service at Pelaw. Photo: Nexus. Free to reuse for all LDR partners.

There were approximately 660,000 journeys between December 19 to 29 2023, as opposed to 540,000 in 2024.

There are no Metro services on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. 

Metro services returned, on a reduced service, on New Year’s Eve following the installation of an industrial prop to support the ailing pillar of the Gateshead flyover. Two pillars are also expected to be encased in concrete as a medium-term solution to further stabilise the flyover as the region’s political bosses search for the funds to demolish it. 

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, following a meeting with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP, Gateshead Council Leader Martin Gannon, and Gateshead MP Mark Feguson, pledged regional funds to tear the flyover down, but also stated delivering the full scheme would require Government cash. 

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However, while visiting the former traffic artery on Thursday, Labour’s future of roads minister, Lilian Greenwood MP,  refused to promise that the Government would step in to contribute funds for the redevelopment. 

The minister, speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting service said that the Government is “absolutely committed” to work with Gateshead Council to develop the next steps for the A167 flyover. 

Plans to demolish the road and replace it with a tree-line boulevard date back to at least 2008, however, despite several bids for financing from Gateshead Council to the previous Conservative administration, no money was issued.

Words: Austen Shakespeare

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