Hell on the rails
LIGHTNING and flash flooding caused chaos for both the Metro and regional rail services yesterday.
Commuters were faced with lengthy delays after torrential rain caused Metro services between Tynemouth and North Shields to be cancelled for nearly three hours.
Water reached nine-and-a-half inches above the railings on the track at North Shields at around 4pm, forcing Nexus to suspend the services during rush hour.
South of the Tyne, there was more misery for passengers as trains between Pelaw and South Shields were also halted after lightning caused signaling problems, causing delays well into the evening.
A replacement bus service was put on between North Shields and Tynemouth until the track re-opened again shortly before 7pm.
And trains running along the East Coast mainline between Darlington and Berwick ground to a halt after lightning struck power lines.
National Express East Coast confirmed four separate strikes had been reported, causing "severe signal failure" and delays of to an hour in each direction.
Even when trains began moving again, the absence of signals meant they could only travel at low speeds.
Engineers from Network Rail were dispatched to the separate sites to re-establish power to the signals.
And commuters were as angry as the storm clouds which hovered above as they were forced to wait for long periods.
Liberty Hall, 18, was stuck at North Shields as she tried to get home from work to Benton, Newcastle.
The dental nurse said: "This services between North Shields and Tynemouth seem to getting disrupted a lot recently.
"We should be used to English weather by now. Nexus should have more measures in place to deal with it.
"I’ve been at work all day, so that’s the last thing I want to be dealing with.
"The replacement bus service they’ve put on isn’t great either. They should have a bus running at the same times as the Metro, say every 10 minutes."
A mother from Gosforth, Newcastle, was travelling home with two of her sons on an Edinburgh to London regional rail service when it stopped in Northumberland for an hour.
She said: "We’ve just been left sat here. This is a connecting journey for us after a long-haul flight and really not what anyone wants.
Meanwhile, reports of a lightning strike on an aerial at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead yesterday afternoon could not be confirmed last night.
Tyne and Wear Fire Service answered 79 telephone calls during the course of the afternoon.
As well as flooding and related incidents, the service attended hospitals, schools and care homes where torrential rain had activated fire alarms, although there were no actual fires.
Where the chaos unfolded
REPORTS OF FLASH FLOODING ACROSS NEWCASTLE AND GATESHEAD:
3.07pm Old Durham Road and Shipcote Terrace, Gateshead.
3.28pm Benfield Road, Newcastle, near the Metro station.
3.46pm North Road, North Shields, near to the Sportsman Pub.
3.29pm The Coalhouse roundabout, Gateshead, with the northbound sliproad onto the A1 closed temporarily.
3.08pm Durham Road, Gateshead, at the Five Bridges roundabout.
3.30pm Tees Road and Finchale Road, Hebburn, South Tyneside.
3.26pm Chowdene Bank, Gateshead.
3.39pm Hill Street, Jarrow, under the Metro bridge.
3.54pm College Road, Hebburn.
3.54pm Ocean Road, South Shields.
4.12pm Ocean Road, South Shields.
3.34pm Ouseburn Road, Newcastle, near to the white bridge.
3.44pm Beach Road, Tynemouth.
3.49pm Malvern Road, North Shields.
3.50pm Tanners Bank, North Shields.
3.52pm Angus Crescent, North Shields.
4.14pm Leam Lane Estate, Gateshead.
4.18pm Station Road, Bill Quay, Gateshead.
