06 Feb 2015, 12:01 pm
#975
(06 Feb 2015, 11:34 am)Tommy_1581 This "incident" has been going on since 09:00 according to Nexus' Metro page...
The incident has been ongoing since 08:00am.
I was on the 07:50am train from Stadium of Light to Gateshead, and we arrived at the Pelaw signal (where the green and yellow lines meet) at 08:06am. Judging by the train announcements, I guessed there was a train in front of us at Pelaw, which could not move. The driver later established that the train in front of that (presumably the 07:57 train from Pelaw - Monkseaton) had broken down at Felling station.
Another customer on my train suggested that there had also been a power cut. She worked at a school in Newcastle and the power had gone off. This could have made matters worse, if it was true.
We did not move from the Pelaw signal until 08:30am, when we moved towards Pelaw sidings. At this point, there was at least four Metros pulled up in the sidings, and by the time we got onto the station itself, there was our train and a South Hylton bound train on the other side of the platform. We eventually got to Heworth at about 08:40am (taking a whopping 50 minutes from Stadium of Light to Heworth - opposed to the timetabled 18) and we were all advised to alight the train. No information was given about a bus replacement service, and people continued to wait at Heworth for another train.
Above the platform, hundreds of customers were trying to find out what they could do to get to their destination. There did not appear to be any Metro staff available to talk to. It was the morning peak for service 27, so buses which were already full had to go straight past Metro passengers who were waiting for a bus to Newcastle. Those waiting on Sunderland Road didn't stand a chance of catching a bus. In addition to the delays caused by the usual morning peak on the 27 service, the Metro passengers and roadworks on Sunderland Road (outside of the old Go North East depot) resulted in delays of up to 40 minutes. As such, a bus replacement service was organised. As most of Riverside's double deckers had been allocated to scholars services, there was very few remaining to be allocated to the dedicated replacement service, which meant that two Olympians and a Vyking were allocated. There was some confusion due to the rush needed to get the buses out, with the driver of the Vyking (an office-based employee at Riverside) serving the Heworth-bound 27 stand. A Nexus employee was rather rude to this driver: she shouted at him for occupying the wrong stand - yet the driver claimed this was the stand he was told to serve. He had to do a loop around Gateshead to get back into the Interchange and onto the already busy Stand C (where the Loops, Coaster and Stagecoach X34 serve).
Thankfully, I was able to get a lift to my destination from Heworth. I didn't miss my job interview. If I had missed it, this post would be far less civil.
