Thieves stealing cable cause Metro disruption
Passengers on the Tyne and Wear Metro network faced major disruption earlier after thieves stole cable.
There were no trains between Monument in Newcastle and South Shields and South Hylton in Sunderland and replacement buses ran instead.
Passengers tweeted about the disruption including travelling on crowded buses.
Metro operator Nexus has offered a £1,000 reward for information leading to a conviction of the thieves, who struck at Gateshead at 02:00 GMT.
The firm tweeted: "We now can confirm today's disruption to Metro has been caused by cable theft in the Gateshead area.
"Our engineers are working hard to fix the damage thieves have done and we want to remind people messing with live cables is extremely dangerous."
The disruption affected the morning rush hour but trains started running across the network later.
Northumbria Police said they were investigating the theft after cable was cut near to Gateshead Stadium Metro station.