Newcastle United fans warned about matchday Metro disruptions ahead of Southampton game

Newcastle United fans are being urged to give themselves plenty of time to get to Sunday’s game against Southampton at St James’s Park with more disruption to Metro services planned.
Newcastle United fans heading to Sunday's game are warned to allow extra journey time due to Metro disruptions.Newcastle United fans heading to Sunday's game are warned to allow extra journey time due to Metro disruptions.
Newcastle United fans heading to Sunday's game are warned to allow extra journey time due to Metro disruptions.

Metro operators Nexus are reminding the Toon Army to set off earlier for the 2pm kick-off as trains are expected to be busy.

Nexus said: “None of the extra match day Metro services will be operating as a result of an ongoing overtime ban by the RMT union, one of the trade unions that represents Metro train crew.

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“Trains are being cancelled at short notice due to lack of cover when a member of train crew becomes unavailable at short notice. This means that Metro services are busier and less frequent.

“Passengers are advised to allow for extra journey time and check for information before they travel via www.nexus.org.uk and on Twitter @My_Metro, where full details of the Metro’s service status are available.”

Metro Services Director, Chris Carson, said: “The message to Newcastle United fans is to travel earlier on Sunday so that they get into the city centre in plenty of time for the Southampton game at 2pm.

“Due to the ongoing industrial action we expect trains to be much busier and frequencies of services will be affected. Unfortunately we are not able to provide the extra match day trains on Sunday as we usually do and Nexus apologies for any inconvenience caused.

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“Metros will be running to all destinations but service levels are fluctuating due to the industrial action, so we want fans to make sure they plan ahead and leave plenty of time to get to the game.”

Nexus is publishing the predicted level of Metro service frequency in advance of each day here: https://www.nexus.org.uk/travelling-metro-during-industrial-action

The firm says it has offered train crew a 15% increase in salary over two years on top of annual cost of living rises as well as improvements to rosters. The offer would take their annual salary up to an estimated £46,000 per annum by April 2022. The offer has been rejected by unions.