Newcastle Central station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Newcastle Central
Location
Place	Newcastle upon Tyne
Local authority	Newcastle upon Tyne
Operations
Managed by	GNER
Platforms in use	12
Annual entry/exit 04/05	5.728 million **
Passenger Transport Executive
PTE	Tyne and Wear (Nexus)
Zone	26
History
1850 1890s 1981	Opened Extended Underground Station opened
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
** based on sales of tickets in 2004/05 financial year which end or originate at Newcastle Central. Disclaimer (PDF)

East Coast Main Line

Principal stations (from south to north) London King's Cross Stevenage Peterborough Grantham Newark North Gate Retford Doncaster >Wakefield Westgate >Leeds York Northallerton Darlington Durham Newcastle upon Tyne Morpeth Alnmouth Berwick-upon-Tweed Dunbar Edinburgh Waverley

Newcastle Central Station is the principal railway station in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1850 and is a Grade I listed building.

Contents 1 Construction and opening 2 Train services 3 Railway infrastructure 4 External links 5 References

[edit] Construction and opening

The station was designed by John Dobson for the North Eastern Railway company, and was constructed in collaboration with Robert Stephenson (also responsible for the High Level Bridge) between 1845 and 1850. The opening ceremony, attended by Queen Victoria, took place on 29 August 1850.

The building has a Classical styled frontage, and its trainshed has a distinctive roof with three curved, arched spans — one of the first examples of its kind. A portico, designed by Thomas Prosser, was added to the station entrance in 1863, and the trainshed was extended southwards in the 1890s with a new span designed by William Bell.

An underground station for Tyne and Wear Metro trains was constructed during the late 1970s, and opened in 1981. Part of the portico was temporarily dismantled while excavation work for this station took place.

[edit] Train services

Newcastle Central Station is a key stop on the East Coast Main Line. Passenger services are operated by several companies:

• GNER trains run to London King's Cross station via York and Doncaster, and to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen in Scotland.
• Virgin Trains run to Birmingham, Bristol, Devon and Cornwall via York, Leeds and Doncaster, and to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
• Northern Rail operates local services within Tyneside, Wearside, Teesside, Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Northumberland. Destinations include Sunderland, Morpeth, Middlesbrough, Hexham, and Carlisle. Some Carlisle services continue to Whitehaven, and to Glasgow via Dumfries.
• First Transpennine Express trains run to Manchester and Liverpool via York and Leeds.
• First ScotRail operates two daily services to Stranraer via Carlisle.
• Tyne and Wear Metro services operate from a dedicated underground station.

[edit] Railway infrastructure

Trains may cross the River Tyne on one of two bridges — the High Level Bridge (opened 1849) to the south-east of Central Station, and the King Edward Bridge (opened 1906) to the south-west. The trackwork north and south of the river forms a complete circle with these two bridges, allowing trains to be turned around if necessary. The former Gateshead depot is situated, next to the connecting tracks, on the opposite side of the Tyne, mirroring the station.

Central Station was famed for its highly complex "diamond crossing" to the east of the station. This facilitated access to the High Level Bridge and northbound ECML and was once said to be the greatest such crossing in the world.^[1] The crossing has been greatly simplified in recent years, however, as the opening of the Metro brought about the withdrawal of many heavy-rail suburban services and the closure of the platforms they operated from, and removed the need for such a complex crossing. Heaton depot is to the north of the station, on the East Coast Main Line.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Newcastle Central station

• Train times and station information for Newcastle Central station from National Rail
• Street map and aerial photo of Newcastle Central station from Multimap.com

• Old photographs of Newcastle Central Station
• Newcastle Central Station - Part of the 2000 art exhibition "Stephenson's Legacy." Includes old photographs of the station.
• A 3D representation of Newcastle Central station

[edit] References

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		Northern Rail Tyne Valley Line		Dunston
Chester-le-Street		Northern Rail Tees Valley Line		Terminus
Terminus		Northern Rail East Coast Main Line		Manors
Chester-le-Street		First Transpennine Express North TransPennine		Terminus
Heworth		Northern Rail Durham Coast		Terminus
Durham		GNER East Coast Main Line		Morpeth
Terminus		First ScotRail Glasgow South Western Line		MetroCentre (Limited Service)
Chester-le-Street		Virgin Trains Cross Country Route		Morpeth
	Tyne and Wear Metro Lines
Gateshead Interchange		Green line		Monument
		Yellow line

Major UK railway stations
Managed by Network Rail: Birmingham New Street • Edinburgh Waverley • Gatwick Airport • Glasgow Central • Leeds City • Liverpool Lime Street • Manchester Piccadilly
Managed by train operator: Aberdeen • Belfast Central • Birmingham Snow Hill • Brighton • Bristol Temple Meads • Cardiff Central • Crewe  • Derby • Doncaster • Glasgow Queen Street • Hull • Manchester Victoria • Newcastle Central • Nottingham • Reading • Sheffield • York
Railway stations of London: Central area | Greater London
Managed by Network Rail: Cannon Street • Charing Cross • Euston • Fenchurch Street • King's Cross • Liverpool Street • London Bridge • Paddington • Victoria • Waterloo
Managed by train operator: Blackfriars • Marylebone • Moorgate • St Pancras