A Metro driver managed to stop a train after spotting an unconscious man lying on the tracks at Haymarket station.
The man had fallen onto the railway line from platform 1 between the first and second trains of the day on Saturday morning.
Luckily as the second train approached the station, the driver noticed the man on the tracks and brought the train to a halt.
Police and paramedics were called and services were suspended towards South Hylton at around 5.40am.
The man, who had suffered a suspected head injury, was taken to the nearby Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle by an ambulance crew.
A spokesperson for Nexus, which runs the Metro, said: "The driver saw him, luckily, lying on the track.
"The police were called and an ambulance straight away.
"There was a little bit of a hold up getting the ambulance there.
"We got him off the track and straight off to hospital with a suspected head injury."
Although the incident was initially described as a "trespasser" on the line, Nexus confirmed that the man's fall was an accident.
A spokesperson for the North East Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 5.40am to a person who had fallen onto the track at Haymarket Metro station.
"We dispatched two crews, our Hazardous Area Response Team and a double-crewed ambulance.
"A male patient was taken to the RVI."
During the disruption, Go North East buses were accepting Metro tickets and passes on all of their services between South Shields and Monument and between South Hylton and Monument.
At just after 6.15am, trains were able to run again and the service resumed with some lasting delays.
