NEXUS bosses are this afternoon (June 4) reviewing arrangements for Ed Sheeran’s concert at the Stadium of Light tonight after angry fans complained of “transport chaos” at last night’s record-breaking show.
Sheeran fans took to social media to vent their outrage after having to endure waits of up to two hours for Tyne and Wear Metro trains.
Many, however, said the Metro staff were brilliant" and there were "loads of trains".
Read more: Travel arrangements for Ed Sheeran concerts at Stadium of Light
Sheeran’s keenly anticipated concert was the most-attended gig at the stadium so far with 60,000 gig-goers through the doors, smashing Rihanna’s record set almost 10 years ago with a crowd of 57,500.
Last night, the Metro service issued an apology on Twitter, after putting on extra trains - but adding that these trains were "likely to terminate in Newcastle".
At around midnight on Saturday morning, the Metro tweeted: "For customers currently waiting at Stadium of Light and St Peters, more services have now been added to the extra trains that were initially scheduled to run. Listen out for guidance as staff get customers onto trains safely & as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.”
Then, at 12.24am, it tweeted: "We are seeing high volumes of people using Metro to travel home from Sunderland tonight. More trains will run however these trains are likely to terminate in Newcastle. We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause."
One fan took to social media to say she'd been waiting an hour an hour to get on a Metro train - and was then told it would be "at least another hour" before she was on one.
Another tweeted the Metro service was "next to useless". "Still waiting more than two hours after it finished.” Others described the service as "shocking".
Huw Lewis, Customer Services Director at Nexus, said: “Metro saw its busiest night ever for a Stadium of Light concert as 60,000 people saw Ed Sheeran play the first of his two concerts.
“Our customer service teams, train drivers and control room colleagues did an amazing job making sure everyone got to the gig on time and could get a train away from the event afterwards.
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“World class events always bring queues, and that can be frustrating but I would like to thank everyone for how patient and good-humoured they were.”
He added: “Most people I spoke to at St Peters and Stadium of Light stations last night were full of praise for the Metro team and what we were doing.
"We diverted an extra six trains to Sunderland on top of 17 we planned to provide after the concert and kept people informed and moving throughout the night with trains carrying on into the early hours.
“There were no delays or gaps between trains so although the queues were long they kept moving. The team is getting together this afternoon to review the night in detail and if we can improve the service we provide we will.”
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