Metro plans bus services Pelaw- South Hylton if Network Rail strike goes ahead
For travel information contact Traveline on 0871 200 2233
www.nexus.org.uk
Metro services between Pelaw and South Hylton in Sunderland will be suspended for four days, April 6-9, if a planned national strike by Network Rail signals and maintenance staff goes ahead – but Metro will provide buses.
Nexus, which owns, manages and is modernising Metro, has no part in the dispute but Metro relies on Network Rail to operate signals and maintain infrastructure on the line between Pelaw and South Hylton.
If the strike goes ahead Metro services will be unable to run between Pelaw and South Hylton from the first train on Tuesday 6 April to the last train on Friday, 9 April. Metro services on all other parts of the Metro network will run almost as normal.
Metro will be running a replacement bus service to cover all sections of the Sunderland line. The buses will accept valid Metro tickets. Passengers travelling to and from Sunderland are advised to allow extra time for their journey and to buy Metro tickets in the usual way.
Director General of Nexus, Bernard Garner, said: “We are just as much a victim of this strike as our passengers. Metro services between Sunderland Newcastle are used by around 20,000 people a day, so there is no doubt that if the strike goes ahead people will be greatly inconvenienced.
“We have put a contingency plan in place which involves replacement bus services running along the Sunderland Metro line on all four days of the proposed strike. While the buses cannot replace the convenience and reliability of Metro, they will offer as good a service as possible if the action goes ahead.”
Northern train services between Sunderland and Newcastle and Newcastle and Carlisle will also be suspended, and Grand Central services from Sunderland suspended or diverted. Similar disruption is likely across the vast majority of regional rail services across the north of England.
For further information passengers can call Traveline on 0871 200 2233 or visit the Nexus website, www.nexus.org.uk. For information on Northern train services call Northern’s Customer Helpline on 0845 00 00 125. National Rail Enquiries on 0845 484950. You can also visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest information as soon as it becomes available.
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