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Tyne and Wear Metro control room to get £12m upgrade

Nexus New Metro control roomNexus
The control room in South Gosforth will be "brought into the digital age"

The control room of Tyne and Wear Metro is to undergo the biggest upgrade in its 38-year history.

Nexus, which manages and operates the Metro, is installing computerised signalling to "transform the way trains are controlled".

The £12m upgrade will see the current display board and button operation replaced with plasma screens, it said.

Passengers will face disruption, including bus replacement services, when the system is installed in August.

The project is being funded as part of the £350m Metro: all change modernisation programme.

Nexus Current display board and button systemNexus
The current system has been in use in since the Metro began operating

The upgrade will take place on the weekend of 4 and 5 August, with passengers advised to check what service disruption is expected.

Tobyn Hughes, managing director of Nexus, said: "This £12m project is the biggest overhaul of technology in the Metro control room for almost 40 years.

"The investment brings our signalling control systems into the digital age and it will be of huge benefit to Metro operations."