Northumberland Park Metro station

Northumberland Park is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Backworth, Northumberland Park and West Allotment in North Tyneside. The station joined the network in December 2005, and is currently the second-newest station on the network, after Simonside, which opened in March 2008.[2]

This article is about the Tyne and Wear Metro station in North Tyneside. For National Rail station in the London Borough of Haringey, see Northumberland Park railway station.

Northumberland Park
Tyne and Wear Metro station
LocationNorthumberland Park, North Tyneside
England
Coordinates55°01′59″N 1°31′11″W
Grid referenceNZ307710
Transit authorityTyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive
Platforms2
Tracks2
Construction
Parking393 spaces
Bicycle facilities
  • 5 cycle lockers
  • 5 cycle pods
Disabled accessStep-free access to platform level
Other information
Station codeNPK
Fare zoneB
History
Original companyTyne and Wear Metro
Key dates
11 December 2005Opened
Passengers
2017/180.31 million[1]
Services
Preceding station Metro Following station
Palmersville
towards South Shields
 Yellow Line Shiremoor
towards St. James via Whitley Bay
Location

The station is located to the west of the site of the former Backworth station, which closed to passengers in June 1977.[3] The station was indirectly replaced by the nearby Shiremoor, which was purpose-built for the network, and opened in August 1980.

Northumberland Park is located a short walk away from the nearby Cobalt Business Park, which can be also reached using Go North East's 19 bus. This route also serves Silverlink Retail Park, Royal Quays and the Shields Ferry.[4]

The station was used by 311,714 passengers in 2017–18, making it the fifth-least-used station in North Tyneside.

Facilities

Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with a lift providing step-free access to the island platform at Northumberland Park. The station is equipped with ticket machines, sheltered waiting area, seating, next train information displays, timetable posters, and an emergency help point. Ticket machines are able to accept payment with credit and debit card (including contactless payment), notes and coins.[5][6] The station is also fitted with smartcard validators, which feature at all stations across the network.[7][8]

The station serves as a park and ride, and is served by a multi-storey car park with 393 spaces, plus 12 accessible spaces. There is also the provision for cycle parking, with 5 cycle lockers and 5 cycle pods available for use. A small bus interchange is also available at the station, providing frequent connections in and around North Tyneside and south east Northumberland.[9]

Service and frequency

Northumberland Park is served by the  Yellow Line , which operates between South Shields and St. James with an end-to-end journey time of 83 minutes.

Services from platform 1 operate towards South Shields, with the first train departing at 05:49 (05:51 on Saturday and 06:43 on Sunday). Services from platform 2 operate towards St. James via Whitley Bay, with the first train departing at 05:15 (05:34 on Saturday and 06:19 on Sunday). Trains run frequently across the network, at intervals of up to every 12 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime), and every 15 minutes (evening and Sunday), with the last trains departing at around midnight.

Additional trains run during morning and evening peak hours (Monday to Friday) between Pelaw and Monkseaton. This provides up to 10 trains per hour through the station at peak times.[9]

Journey times from Northumberland Park are:

Future developments
For further information regarding the ongoing rail project to connect Newcastle and Ashington, see Northumberland Line.

As of January 2021, plans are under development to reintroduce a passenger rail service between Newcastle and Ashington, as part of the Northumberland Line project.[10][11] The proposed passenger service would utilise the existing single-track freight line which parallels the Metro's Yellow Line between Benton Junction and the site of Backworth Junction, just to the east of Northumberland Park station. It is anticipated that a new National Rail platform will be added adjacent to the current Metro station to create an interchange.[12]

After several rounds of feasibility and design studies, the Department for Transport allocated an initial grant of £1.5 million towards the project costs in January 2020[13] which was supplemented by an allocation of £10 million of funds from Northumberland County Council the following month.[14] This funding enabled AECOM to begin detailed on-site ground investigation works in October 2020.[15] The allocation of a further £34 million of UK Government funding for the project in January 2021 enables the necessary land to be purchased, detailed designs to be prepared and some early preparatory and site works to begin.[16] The UK Government is expected to fund the remainder of the project cost, estimated at £166 million as of January 2021, once the final phase of design works are complete.[17]

It is anticipated that the main construction phase might begin as early as June 2022,[14] enabling an opening date in 2024.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Tyne & Wear Metro usage figures". 2017–2018. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  2. "'Travel free' offer as £3.2m station opens". Railnews. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  3. "Disused Stations: Backworth Station (2nd site)". Disused Stations. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  4. "Little Coasters 19". Go North East. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  5. "Metro passengers feel the benefit of contactless payment". Nexus. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  6. "Revamp for Metro ticket machines". BBC News. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  7. "City Metro stations get new smart ticket machines and gates". Nexus. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  8. "Pop card validators at Metro stations are put through their paces". Nexus. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  9. "Timetables and stations: Northumberland Park". Nexus. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  10. "Northumberland Line". Northumberland County Council. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  11. "Northumberland Line reopening plan advances". Railway Gazette International. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  12. "Plans to hook up Northumberland to Metro station via new passenger rail link". Berwick Advertiser. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  13. Sharma, Sonia (28 January 2020). "How plans to re-open Newcastle to Ashington railway line could boost region". North East Chronicle. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  14. "£162m Northumberland Line scheme moves to design phase". The Construction Index. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  15. Kennedy, Catherine (26 October 2020). "Ground investigation underway to convert Northumberland Line for passenger services - New Civil Engineer". New Civil Engineer. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  16. Burroughs, David (23 January 2021). "£794m package to reopen British lines unveiled | International Railway Journal". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  17. O'Connell, Ben (23 January 2021). "Government confirms £34million for Northumberland Line - Rail Minister says he's 'lucky to be reopening train lines' | Northumberland Gazette". Northumberland Gazette. Retrieved 25 January 2021.

Sources
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