Funds to upgrade Metro signal system confirmed

Nexus managing director Cathy Massarella says the investment is "critical"

Funding to upgrade the signalling system on the Tyne and Wear Metro has been confirmed by the Department for Transport (DfT).

It said the works would "enhance journey times, improve reliability and safety" on the service as well as enable the expansion of the network to Washington.

The service's operator Nexus previously said signalling failures were responsible for 62% of all infrastructure-related delays.

The firm's managing director, Cathy Massarella, said the investment was "critical" to the Metro's future.

The existing signalling system, which dates from the network's construction in the 1970s and 80s, has become "increasingly difficult to maintain" due to the difficulty in finding parts and those with the engineering skills to carry out repairs, Nexus has previously said.

Ms Massarella said: "We are working with analogue technology in a digital era.

"Without signals we can't run the trains."

The announcement follows Nexus submitting a business case to the DfT last year which sought about £400m for a signalling system upgrade.

It is unclear how much money the DfT has so far committed to project.

The government did however confirm that this money was separate to the £1.85bn slated for transport infrastructure which the government promised to the region earlier this year.

A large amount of those funds will pay for the expansion of the Metro to Washington.

It is also unclear when these signalling upgrade works will begin.

The DfT said it could not provide any more details.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said she was proud the government had funded the upgrades.

"Nexus can now get to work on designing the system to deliver this essential improvement for passengers," she said.

Kevin Dickinson, from the Sort Out the Metro passenger campaign group, said he hoped the upgrades would lead to passengers getting real-time information on trains, which was currently "sorely missing".