Nexus, who own and manage the Tyne & Wear Metro have confirmed that they will be restoring a full timetable of services from Sunday 11 April.

The news, which coincides with the scheduled reopening of non-essential retail means that passengers will have access to the full timetable as the lockdown is eased.

Through the centres of Newcastle and Gateshead, trains will be running every six minutes and every 12 minutes across the network on weekdays.

Additional peak time services will return meaning a train every 3 to 6 minutes during the rush hour between Pelaw and Regent Centre/Monkseaton.

Passengers are reminded that although the instruction for essential travel only has ended, they should minimise the number of journeys they make where possible.

Chief Operating Officer at Nexus, Martin Kearney, said: “Metro’s timetable will go back to its full level of service from April 11. There will be more frequent services for people who need to travel, creating more space for social distancing as we gradually emerge from lockdown.

“This is great news for our customers and I’d like to thank them for their patience over the winter while we operated a slightly reduced level of service on Metro.

“The issue was caused by the impact of lockdown on our ability to train a record intake of new Metro drivers. The assessment centres we needed to use for the aptitude tests were all closed.

“That situation has gradually eased off and I’m pleased to see all of the new trainees have passed the course and our now on our roster. We have expanded our driver training school and two more groups are currently undertaking the training course.”

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