Gateshead flyover: Nexus offers Metro update for Christmas and New Year travel as reduced service to last into 2025

Ahead of days of festive travel across the North East, which usually sees family members travelling throughout the region to meet loved ones and thousands of football fans heading to traditional Boxing Day fixtures, Nexus has confirmed services will not run across the whole system until the new year.

The company claims they have been in contact with engineers are working up plans to strengthen parts of the A167 flyover in Gateshead to re-open the tunnels.

The Gateshead flyover was initially closed on Friday, December 13 and has casused travel chaos across the region ever since. Metro services are currently suspended between Heworth and Monument for safety reasons.

Cathy Massarella, Managing Director of Nexus, said: “The Metro service remains suspended between Monument and Heworth as a precaution due to the ongoing closure of the A167 Gateshead Highway flyover.

“Following further specialist advice we received last week from Gateshead Council’s structural engineers, we had to immediately suspend services through the tunnels. The Metro tunnels run beneath the flyover.

“We’re grateful to customers for their patience and understanding during this ongoing period of disruption.

“As things stand, Metro services will continue to operate on the Sunderland line between Pelaw and South Hylton and between Pelaw and South Shields at a reduced frequency on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and in the days after that.

“Metro trains will continue to run north bound from Monument to Newcastle Airport on the Green Line. We also continue to run on the Yellow Line from St James to Monument via the North Tyneside coast.

“On Christmas Eve there will be a 15 minute service frequency north of the Tyne and a 24 minute frequency south of the Tyne. Services will start to run down from 6pm. There will be an hourly service from around 7pm until the end of service.

“There are no Metro services running on Christmas Day.

“On Boxing Day there will be a 15 minute frequency north of the Tyne, and a 30 minute frequency south of the Tyne, 8am to 8pm. Extra replacement bus services (Number 900) will be running between Monument and Heworth. Fans heading to the Newcastle Utd game should allow plenty of extra time to get to the match. Metro tickets are also being accepted on local bus routes.

“The Metro line closure remains an evolving situation. We ask customers to plan in advance and allow more time for their journeys.

“Gateshead Council engineers are working up plans to strengthen parts of the A167 flyover to enable us to re-open the tunnels. They have told us there is potential for this remedial work to be completed early in the new year. This unfortunately means the service suspension will be in place at least until then. We are working closely with colleagues at Gateshead Council and once the remedial work is completed, it will take us time to get back to a full service.

“This is an unprecedented situation and one of the biggest operational challenges we have faced in the history of the Tyne and Wear Metro. We’re aware of the significant disruption it’s causing, however, the safety of our customers and employees is our top priority.

“We hope to maintain services south of the Tyne for as long as possible, however, we need to be realistic about the impact of this closure. We are currently unable to maintain trains south of the River Tyne and this will impact our maintenance schedule and therefore the performance of these trains.

“We are working closely with our partners at Stadler to see whether we can deliver some basic repairs, but this, combined with the colder weather, means there remains a strong possibility that we will be unable to sustain Metro services south of the River Tyne for the period of the tunnels being closed.

“We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused. Please be assured we are doing all that we can on this, working closely with partners. We will continue to keep customers updated and all the latest information can be found on the Nexus website: , the Pop App, and on the Metro’s X page (formerly Twitter) @My_Metro.”