Testing and commissioning has begun on the Metro Flow project after construction work finished on the line between Pelaw and South Shields.

Nexus is aiming to reopen the line on Monday 12th December after the main phase of the £104m Metro Flow project is completed.

Overhead wire and signal testing must be tested to make sure Metro services and national freight trains can operate side-by-side.

Nexus received a £95m grant from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund to deliver the project and has seen more than 4km of new rail, 8,000+ new sleepers and 27,000 tonnes of ballast installed.

The project will now let both Metro and Freight services operate on the same lines, rather than using separate infrastructure.

Cathy Massarella, Major Projects Director at Nexus, said: “Our contractors have completed all construction work in the £104m Metro Flow project and have moved on to the rigorous testing and commissioning we need before Metro and freight trains can use the new track, overhead line and signalling infrastructure.

“We aim to re-open the route between Pelaw and South Shields to Metro customers on 12 December, and our contractors led by Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd are working round the clock to make that happen.

“I know customers will want to get back on trains between Pelaw and South Shields as soon as they can, and I am sorry the project has taken a week longer than we planned, but we are very close to safely completing the main phase of work.

“This has been a massive and unique project with more than 1,000 engineers working against demanding timescales while at the same time maintaining deliveries to the oil terminal in Jarrow through the worksite.

“Metro Flow brings new benefits for Metro customers which will be felt for years to come. We have renewed infrastructure throughout the 4.6km worksite and removed three singe-track pinch points which can cause delays across Metro, opening the way for a more frequent service right across the system.

“We needed to complete Metro Flow now, to meet Government timescales on the funding which made this investment possible and to be ready for our new Metro trains to enter service next year.”