A major Metro route has re-opened in Sunderland after a substation had to be rebuilt after it was damaged during storms.
Services have returned on the line between South Hylton and Park Lane on the Tyne and Wear Metro today (Janauary 13) for the first time since November. A complete rebuild to be carried out in the intervening months after a storm which caused severe damage to a substation at Pallion.
Services from Park Lane, University, Millfield and South Hylton stations were affected by the eight-week line closure after a substation, which provides power to overhead lines, was severely damaged by flooding which led to a fire.
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The mix of water and electricity sparked a fire and meant that the substation – which takes energy from the National Grid and transforms it into lower voltage power for the overhead electric wires – was no longer safe to use.
Since then, Network Rail engineers have been working to remove the damaged equipment and completely rebuild Pallion substation. This involved fitting around 1.3 miles of new cables that feed electricity to the overhead power lines, a major rewiring of the equipment that critically monitors the train-powering electric wires, as well as a rigorous programme of testing.
Rail replacement buses had been operating on the route during the suspension of services between Park Lane and South Hylton.
Nexus, the operators of the Metro, confirmed that Network Rail had completed the repairs last night (January 12) The re-opening of the line was then affected by an obstruction on the overhead line that had to be cleared by Network Rail, this morning.
The issue has now been resolved and Nexus say that trains are now running to South Hylton to timetable. A spokesperson for Nexus said: "Network Rail finished all the works last on the damaged substation at Pallion, so the line was fit to use for trains this morning.
"There was an obstruction on the overhead line that had to be cleared by Network Rail this morning. The issue has now been cleared, so trains are running to South Hylton to timetable."
Martin Errington, Infrastructure Maintenance Engineer for Network Rail, who has been leading the repairs said: “This hasn’t been an easy task - the water damage was so significant that the team needed to completely rebuild the facility before trains could run normally again.
"We’ve been working alongside industry specialists to restore power quickly and safely, and I’m really pleased that passengers can use this section of the Metro line again.
“We’re grateful to passengers, businesses and the community for bearing with us over the last few months. The new substation will help to offer a more reliable Metro service for many years to come, so that people can continue to enjoy the great connections it provides.”
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