If you thought the traffic was a ‘little’ busy for Wimbledon match – Just wait for Chelsea | OneFootball

It is Newcastle v Chelsea at the end of the month.

Tuesday night’s win over AFC Wimbledon seeing United become the 16th of 16 to progress.

Last night’s match saw the visitors put up dogged resistance but a lot of Newcastle United fans had plenty of other obstacles in their paths just to get to St James’ Park ahead of the match.

To say the traffic was a ‘little’ busy, would be a huge understatement, especially if coming from south of the river.

The Tyne Bridge is a nightmare, just one lane either way for who knows how long.

So I dodged that and headed to the Redheugh bridge, I had to queue in traffic long before even reaching that bridge!

All kinds of factors mean that matches on a night usually see far more fans driving to the game than for a daytime game, plus in a more concentrated window of time.

Well brace yourself now for Newcastle v Chelsea four weeks today.

Nexus announcing (see below) that ‘The line is set to be closed from Gateshead Stadium to South Shields, and from Gateshead Stadium to South Hylton, in Sunderland.’

These lines closed ‘between 28 October and 1 November’ during half-term holiday week.

They get the date of the Newcastle v Chelsea match wrong, it is Wednesday 30 October and not Tuesday 29 October, but that changes nothing.

All those people who usually get the metro from those areas mentioned south of the river, will need to find alternative ways of getting to Newcastle v Chelsea.

I assume from reading the below that you will still be able to get from Gateshead metro to Newcastle, not sure if it means it will still go as far as Gateshead Stadium metro though?

I just hope the work gets done on time, as per their schedule, as if it overruns we have Newcastle v Arsenal on the Saturday…

Football fans are set to face travel disruption due to planned maintenance work on a train line.

Tyne and Wear Metro service lines will be closed between 28 October and 1 November while major infrastructure work is carried out.

The work clashes with Newcastle United’s Carabao Cup game against Chelsea at St James’ Park, meaning fans will have to make alternative travel arrangements.

Train operator Nexus said football games were considered when work was planned, but the “scale of the investments” meant it was “not possible to avoid major line closures clashing with football fixtures”.

The line is set to be closed from Gateshead Stadium to South Shields, and from Gateshead Stadium to South Hylton, in Sunderland.

The work has been scheduled to take place during the half-term school break.

Nexus said this was because journey numbers were lower when schools were off, making it the “least disruptive option”.

‘Plan ahead’ After beating AFC Wimbledon, Newcastle United will play Chelsea at home on 29 October.

One fan on social media said it was “typical” the work was taking place on a week when Newcastle had two home games, making getting to the stadium difficult.

Nexus has advised fans to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys, but added travel to only one of the two games would be impacted.

“The planned closure affects the midweek League Cup tie against Chelsea, but the line is schedule to be back open as usual when Newcastle United play Arsenal on Saturday 2 November,” a spokesperson said.

Nexus said the upgrade was part of £43m of work it was investing to modernise the Metro’s infrastructure and involved renewing a junction at Pelaw in Gateshead.

The intersection is one of the busiest on the Metro system and carries 400 trains per day.

Stuart Clarke, Nexus’s infrastructure director, said: “There is no good time to close such large sections of line, but we need a five-day window to get it done safely, ensuring a vital set of points located at Pelaw junction are renewed.”

Newcastle United upcoming match schedule, confirmed so far to end of November:

Saturday 5 October – Everton v Newcastle (5.30pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 19 October – Newcastle v Brighton (3pm)

Sunday 27 October – Chelsea v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports

Wednesday 30 October – Newcastle v Chelsea (7.45pm) Sky Sports+

Saturday 2 November – Newcastle v Arsenal (12.30pm) TNT Sports

Sunday 10 November – Forest v Newcastle (2pm) Sky Sports