Sunderland Metro line disruption to last days after flood damage

Services between Park Lane and South Hylton on the Sunderland line are affected

Passengers using part of the Sunderland Metro line are being warned to travel in other ways "for at least the next week" due to a serious fault.

A substation was damaged by flooding which caused a fire on Thursday, with trains unable to run beyond Park Lane.

No trains are travelling to University, Millfield, Pallion or South Hylton.

Engineers are assessing the damage in the Pallion area to work out a timescale for repairs, which are expected to take at least seven days.

People have been advised to check before travelling.

A 24-minute service is operating between Pelaw and Park Lane, with a 20-minute service on Sunday, as normal. 

Stagecoach bus services 8, 10, 11 and 20 are accepting Metro tickets between Sunderland and South Hylton.  

Paul Rutter, East Coast route director for Network Rail, which operates the line, apologised.

"We're working with Nexus to keep passengers moving wherever we can while we plan and carry out repairs," he added.

Huw Lewis, customer services director at Nexus, said: "Metro customers using this part of the Sunderland line should look to plan alternative journeys for at least the next week. 

"We hope to share further updates soon, following Network Rail's site assessment and would advise customers to keep an eye on our website and Twitter feed for details of service information."