Metro delays after lorry hit bridge

Metro passengers faced system-wide delays on trains after a lorry hit a bridge during rush hour.

Nexus, the operator of the Tyne and Wear Metro service, confirmed that some of its trains were suspended due to a lorry on the A19 hitting the bridge near Tyne Tunnel that carries Metro services over that road.

The incident happened at 7.50am yesterday and saw services being suspended between North Shields and Wallsend. The suspension lasted until 8.50am so that an engineer could inspect the track and the bridge structure for damage, but nothing was found.

Then at 9.20am a signalling fault occurred in the Jesmond area, which caused delays to Sunderland and South Shields services.

Passengers faced delays of up to 20minutes between the airport and South Hylton and delays of up to 20minutes between St James and South Shields.

But Nexus has now confirmed that problems were fixed at 10.05am and the service was running to timetable and to all destinations.

A Nexus spokesman said: “We’re sorry that passengers had their journeys disrupted this morning.

“This was due to a service suspension after a lorry struck the Metro bridge over the A19 near the Tyne Tunnel.

“Our rules don’t let us operate over bridges that are hit by vehicles until an engineer has checked that it is still safe. These checks were carried out during a service suspension between North Shields and Wallsend and it was fine for us to resume.

“There was also a fault with a signal between Jesmond and West Jesmond.

“Both issues caused delays and the knock on effect was trains not running to timetable.”