Metro delays caused by faulty parts

Tyne and Wear Metro passengers faced long delays on Monday morning

"Urgent" repairs are being carried out on Tyne and Wear Metro trains following major disruption on Monday.

Commuters were left facing delays of up to 36 minutes during the morning rush hour when several trains were found to have defective parts.

Metro operator Nexus said "swift action" had been taken to prevent even worse travel chaos, with fears the issue could have resulted in overhead lines being pulled down.

Just 20 trains were in service as of Monday afternoon, eight short of the number required to run to a full timetable.

The existing fleet has been running since the network opened in 1980 and is well beyond its 30-year lifespan.

This has made trains increasingly unreliable as it becomes harder to source obsolete spare parts.

A new £262m fleet was due to begin entering passenger service in summer 2023, but has been hit several delays.

It is now hoped the first new train will be in use by the end of 2024.

Kevin Storey, Metro operations director, said maintenance firm Stadler is "working urgently" to deal the latest issue, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

While the number of trains in service was expected to increase by Tuesday, Stadler still has to check the remainder of the fleet to see if they too have been fitted with the faulty part.

Customers are advised to allow extra time for their journeys.