Tyne and Wear Metro network shut by power failure

Passengers hoping to get a Metro at Newcastle Central Station were greeted with signs warning of no service

The entire Tyne and Wear Metro network was brought to a standstill on Sunday by a major power failure.

The outage happened at about 05:30 GMT when a fault developed at an electricity sub-station at a depot in the Gosforth area of Newcastle.

Operator Nexus later said it expected that full services would return on Monday.

At 22:45 GMT it said it was running to all destinations, albeit not to timetable.

The disruption came on the same day as Newcastle hosted one its largest ever outdoor events to mark the 50th anniversary of the visit of American civil rights campaigner Dr Martin Luther King.

It also coincided with a home game of the Newcastle Falcons rugby union team, at which a 10,000 sell-out crowd gathered - most of whom travelled to the north Newcastle venue at Kingston Park by Metro.

Liberal Democrat opposition councillors on Newcastle City Council have called for an urgent investigation into the power failure.

The party's transport spokesman Greg Stone said: "In the past, Nexus have blamed the then operators DB Regio for poor service.

"Today, they have to carry the can for a near total failure to provide a service on a day when there are at least two major events taking place in the city."

Operator Nexus said it hoped some services would resume later

In 2015 Nexus issued a public apology after a series of power failures resulted in long delays and cancelled services.

At the time officials said work would be undertaken to make the network "more robust".