Sunderland rail station flood has 'no impact' on Metro repairs

Sunderland Station will be closed for up to a week because of the flooding

Flooding at an underground railway station will have "no impact" on existing repairs to the Tyne and Wear Metro, rail bosses have said.

Sunderland's station was closed on Monday after heavy rain caused damage to overhead wires, lighting and the fire alarm system.

Network Rail hopes to repair the faults and make the roof watertight by Friday.

Tyne and Wear Metro, Northern, LNER and Grand Central services have been unable to stop at the station.

Many services have been forced to terminate at St Peter's Metro stop.

It comes as rail services across Sunderland have already been heavily disrupted since mid-November due to a "serious fault".

Tyne and Wear Metro services have been impacted in Sunderland

Metro services have not stopped at four stations including University, Millfield, Pallion and South Hylton due to a fire at an electricity substation, also caused by flooding.

Meanwhile, a number of rail strikes have been taking place across the UK, affecting services until 8 January.

Network Rail, which owns the track and the station, urged passengers to check services before they travel.

It also said repairs to the Metro line between Park Lane and South Hylton would still be carried out in time for its reopening in mid-January.

Sam MacDougall, east coast operations director for Network Rail, apologised to customers affected by the flooding in Sunderland.

• When are the train strikes and why are they taking place?

"Our teams are working to make the roof watertight as soon as possible so that people can use the station safely again," he told the BBC.

"Until then, we're continuing to work with Nexus and train operators to help people get to where they need to be."

Network Rail previously apologised for the impact on Metro customers and urged people to allow extra time to use replacement buses.