Monument Metro station

Monument is an underground station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Newcastle City Centre. Monument station was opened in November 1981 (platforms 1 & 2), with platforms 3 & 4 opening in November 1982.

For the London Underground station in the City of London, see Bank and Monument stations.

Monument
Tyne and Wear Metro station
LocationGrey's Monument, Newcastle upon Tyne, City of Newcastle upon Tyne
England
Coordinates54°58′25″N 1°36′47″W
Grid referenceNZ248644
Transit authorityTyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive
Platforms4
Tracks4
Construction
Bicycle facilities20 cycle racks (owned by Newcastle City Council)
Disabled accessStep-free access to platform level
Other information
Station codeMMT
Fare zoneA
History
Original companyTyne and Wear Metro
Key dates
15 November 1981Opened
Passengers
2017/185.25 million[1]
Services
Preceding station Metro Following station
Central
towards South Hylton
 Green Line Haymarket
towards Airport
Central
towards South Shields
 Yellow Line Haymarket
towards St. James via Whitley Bay
Manors
towards South Shields via Whitley Bay
 St James
Terminus
Location

The station was used by 5.25 million passengers in 2017–18, and is the busiest on the network. It is named after Grey's Monument, which stands directly above the station. It is also the only station to be situated on a line crossing.

Monument is a busy interchange station, with four platforms. Trains run as shown:

Line Configuration

The station opened with services from two of its four platforms (1 & 2) on 15 November 1981, when the Metro was extended south from its temporary terminus at Haymarket to Heworth.

The remaining two platforms (3 & 4) came into use when services between St. James and Tynemouth commenced on 14 November 1982. Platforms 1 and 2 lie below 3 and 4, at right angles.

It is one of only three stations in the world where the same metro line passes through it twice in a pretzel configuration (the others being Voorweg RandstadRail station on the Randstadrail in The Hague, Netherlands and the Serdika and Serdika II stations on the Sofia Metro in Sofia, Bulgaria). Trains on the Yellow Line from South Shields travel north through the station towards South Gosforth, before completing a loop of the coast via Whitley Bay, and then returning westwards via Wallsend, towards St James. A similar situation also existed for 14 years on the Vancouver SkyTrain at Commercial–Broadway station, and briefly on the Toronto subway at Bloor–Yonge for six months in 1966.

Although trains departing platform 3 at Monument state South Shields as their destination, they must first complete an anti-clockwise circuit via Wallsend, Whitley Bay & South Gosforth. The journey time to stations south of Monument is considerably shorter when departing from platform 1.

Ticket Hall & Concourse

The ticket hall has an exit to Fenwick department store, a more indirect underground connection to Eldon Square Shopping Centre, and exits to Blackett Street and Grey Street.

The ticket hall additionally contains its own shops including a branch of Sainsbury's Local. The station previously housed a Nexus TravelShop which closed in 2015.[2] In 2019 work is underway to convert the former TravelShop into the country's first underground bar, The Waypoint.[3]

Station Art

The station features some art installations. By one of the entrances is a mural, Famous Faces,[4] created by Bob Olley. It features a number of famous people from the North East, looking out of the window of a Metro train. This is mentioned on the song "By the Monument" by the band Maxïmo Park who grew up in the area.

Outside the station, a simple ventilation shaft has been disguised by Parsons Polygon.[5] Created by David Hamilton as a tribute to Sir Charles Parsons. It is made from clay and features abstract designs based on Parsons' engineering drawings. There are also some designs based on circuitry which have been sand-blasted into the walls and paving of the entrances to the station. This was installed in 2002 and is entitled Circuit. It was created by Richard Cole.[6]

  • Surface entrance to the station, which sits right below the Grey's Monument in the background.
  • Ventilation shaft disguised by a Parsons Polygon artwork.
  • A Green Line train bound for Newcastle Airport Metro station at Platform 2.
  • Station concourse.

References
  1. "Tyne and Wear Metro usage figures 2017–18". Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  2. "Pub plan approved for Metro station". BBC News. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  3. Seddon, Sean (5 October 2018). "Sneak peek in the Monument Metro station pub 'The Waypoint'". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  4. "Famous Faces, Monument". Art on Transport. Nexus. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2007.
  5. "Parsons Polygon". Art on Transport. Nexus. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 17 April 2007.
  6. http://www.newcastle.gov.uk/leisure-libraries-and-tourism/arts-and-entertainment/public-art/public-art-grainger-town
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