Trains off for £1m track repairs

Trains are off between South Gosforth and Haymarket

Metro trains on a Tyneside route will be halted for the weekend as engineers carry out £1m track repairs.

Trains will be off from Haymarket and South Gosforth in Newcastle on Saturday and Sunday and other passengers are being warned to expect delays.

A spokesman for Nexus, which runs the service, said engineers would work round the clock to make sure the repairs were completed by Monday.

He also said a bus replacement service would be running.

Ken Mackay, Director of Metro, said: "This is a significant engineering project which is necessary to keep Metro running now and into the future.

"We will be working round the clock to complete a complicated job in a single weekend.

"We are determined to keep Metro running while we do this, but some disruption is inevitable."

Passengers, particularly those travelling between Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead and destinations north of Newcastle, are warned to plan ahead and leave extra time for their journeys.

All trains from South Hylton, Sunderland, South Shields and Pelaw will terminate at Haymarket.

There will be four trains an hour on the section of line during the day and three an hour at evenings.