Sunderland station

The first railway passenger services to Sunderland were provided by the Durham & Sunderland Railway Company in 1836, initially linking it to Hetton and Haswell.[1] The line approached from the south along the coast and the terminus was near South Dock, which was known as Town Moor station. The Durham & Sunderland Railway slowly extended their line towards the intended terminus in Durham though the eventual terminus, which opened in 1839, was at Shincliffe Town just outside the city[2] and it was not until the North Eastern Railway extended the line to Durham Elvet that this line finally reached Durham.[3]

Undistinguished either in architecture, convenience or accommodation it was replaced 22 years later by Hendon station, half a mile to the south, at a point where the line had to be joined by the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway Company's line to Penshaw and Durham (which had opened in 1853).[4]

In 1854 the Marquis of Londonderry opened the Londonderry, Seaham & Sunderland Railway to link the existing Londonderry and South Hetton Collieries to the South Dock which, from 1855, carried passengers between Seaham Harbour and a terminus at Hendon Burn. Londonderry Railway services began to use Durham & Sunderland Railway's terminus in 1868.[2]

Meanwhile, the Newcastle & Darlington Company had built their station at Fawcett Street (opened in 1863[2]), just south of the site of the present station.

On 4 August 1879, the North Eastern Railway Company opened a line from Ryhope Grange Junction over the river to Monkwearmouth, and a new station was built on the present site[4] to the designs of architect William Peachey. Both of the other stations at Hendon and Fawcett Street were closed on the same date. The new station served passengers of both the North Eastern Railway and the independent Londonderry Railway until the latter sold its Seaham to Sunderland route to the former in 1900, allowing the North Eastern Railway to extend the line along the coast to create a new through route to West Hartlepool which opened in 1905.[2]

The current station, known as Sunderland Central at that time, was known locally as the New Station. Its platforms and lines lie in a cutting running north and south bounded by retaining walls to the east and west. Its single entrance and street-level buildings were at the North End, but a second entrance and associated buildings at the south were added five years later. The platform area was covered by an overall semi-elliptical arched-rib roof which together with the North End buildings, was badly damaged by bombs in 1943.[5]

In 1953, the old roof was replaced by umbrella-type roofing and the south end buildings were given an interim facelift, the complete rebuilding being deferred to enable advantage to be taken of the site's potential for property development and to ensure compatibility with the town's proposals for the redevelopment of this central area.

The new station was designed by H.N. Cameron, D. Mansbridge and M. Steeples[6] of the British Rail Architects' Department[7] under its chief architect Frederick Francis Charles Curtis. Complete rebuilding of the station was accomplished by November 1965.

The current station buildings, which opened after re-building work in November 1965, formed at that time part of a complete rebuilding scheme which involved almost the entire area of the station site which was decked over and developed at street level.

The buildings covered the south end of the station area and a two-storey block of 20 shops, which were built by City and Central Shops Limited, occupies the central area. The old station buildings at the North End, which were retained in use until the new properties were being developed, were closed and demolished. In that area British Railways provided new premises for parcels traffic and Post Office Mails, which were redeveloped with the alterations to the platforms for Metro train services in 2002, and Littlewood's Mail Order Stores Limited (now occupied by Poundland), developed a four-storey department store with a main frontage on to High Street West.

In November 1965, following the withdrawal of local stopping train services on the lines to West Hartlepool, Durham and South Shields (due to the Beeching Axe), passenger trains were concentrated on one island platform with access to the concourse area by a dual 'one-direction' stairway. The second island platform was given over to the working of parcels traffic as a new parcels office premises was to be built at the North End and brought into use. Prior to this (certainly in 1962/3), the parcels traffic was being dealt with at the North End using the old stables block to the West for deliveries and a similar sized room at the East side for incoming parcels. Parcels traffic at the time included pigeon specials, heavy engineering parts, parcels to Europe, greyhounds to Ireland and the occasional corpse! There was also a parcels clerk at the Brian Mills Mail Order Depot.

Also at that time, the revised station working enabled the running lines and sidings at the south end of the station to be simplified. The consequent reduction in permanent way (i.e. railway track) released areas of land at track level which was available for the erection of support for further street level development between Athenaeum Street and Holmside bridges and also on the south side of Holmeside.

At the time that the modernised buildings opened from 4 November 1965, train services from Sunderland included a half hourly service each weekday to and from Newcastle, and an hourly service to and from West Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, with additional trains at peak periods. There were also then through morning trains to London and to Liverpool, and a sleeping car service to London every night of the week. Good connections were available from Newcastle with all parts of the country.

Nexus, the operator of the Tyne & Wear Metro, announced a £7 million refurbishment of the 140-metre platform areas at Sunderland in 2006. The project was to be funded by the Department for Transport in an innovative scheme in which the money 'saved' by reducing a subsidised local Northern Trains service in favour of Metro was converted into a lump sum for capital investment. While Nexus does not own or manage the station (it is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern), it said it wanted to invest as the major operator. Work started on refurbishing Sunderland Station in January 2008.[8] An escalator is in place at the station which started working from December 2008.

The second stage of development in the station began in September 2009 and was completed in July 2010. Nexus appointed Sadler Brown Architecture to develop the design led by Arup Consulting Engineers which incorporated the work of three artists, Jason Bruges Studio, Julian Germain and Morag Morrison.

Jason Bruges Studio have created a 140-metre light wall with individual LED units containing an animated display. Julian Germain is providing a sequence of 41 photographs of everyday items 'lost' in a Metro environment, while Morag Morrison is designing coloured glass wall panels for buildings along the island platform.

The project also saw an entirely new floor, ceilings and lighting, substantial improvements to existing walls and a significant re-organisation of buildings and waiting areas on the platforms.

The modernisation of the station was featured in a 2012 Intel advert.

As of October 2015, it was announced that plans were being formulated for refurbishment of the upper concourse and exterior of Sunderland station to improve its image and access. Sunderland city council with its partners in the project Nexus and Network Rail said "We are currently finalising a detailed design solution with partners Network Rail and Nexus. In the meantime, we are working on options to secure some further funding to make the project happen, which will include improvements to the external space surrounding the station."[9]

On 20 September 2017 Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott contacted Network Rail about the redevelopment of the above ground station, Plans for a £13.55million scheme to transform Sunderland's run-down city centre railway station were unveiled in 2012. Sunderland City Council and Nexus have already committed £7.25million to the project, leaving a funding gap of £6.1million. A joint working group has also been established to progress the scheme. Mrs Elliott MP has issued the communication to Network Rail in order to accelerate progress on the scheme.

The station is on two levels, the ticket office is at street level and is staffed seven days a week. A fast food outlet and patisserie on the concourse offer refreshment facilities. A waiting room and seats are provided at platform level, with the two floors connected by lifts and escalators (the platforms are therefore fully accessible for wheelchair users). Train running information is offered via CIS displays, automated announcements and timetable posters.[10]

Between 2002 and 2018, the station's layout was unique in Great Britain, in that both heavy rail and light rail services used the same platforms.

The station has a large central island platform with each side split into two numbered platforms. Services operated by Northern Trains call at platforms 1 and 4, which are located at the northern end of the station. Platforms 2 and 3, at the southern end of the station, are served by the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Longer trains, such as the Class 180 Adelante operated by Grand Central and Class 800 Azuma operated by London North Eastern Railway, board from two platforms due to their length.

A similar layout now exists at Rotherham Central where Sheffield Supertram tram-train use low-height platforms 3 and 4 which are adjacent to full-height National Rail platforms 1 and 2, respectively.

Key to diagram

The track layout at Sunderland station

• Black lines: Track shared by Metro and mainline services, electrified at 1500 V DC overhead.
• Green lines: Track used by Metro services only, electrified at 1500 V DC overhead.
• Blue lines: Track used by mainline services only, not electrified.
• Grey area: covered station shed.
• Maroon area: Platforms.
• Platform 1: Northern services towards Hartlepool, Middlesbrough & Nunthorpe, and Grand Central services towards York & London King's Cross
• Platform 2: Tyne & Wear Metro services towards South Hylton
• Platform 3: Tyne & Wear Metro services towards Newcastle City Centre, Regent Centre & Newcastle Airport
• Platform 4: Northern services towards Newcastle, Metrocentre & Hexham
• A: Towards Newcastle
• B: From Newcastle
• C: From South Hylton
• D: To South Hylton
• E: Electrified siding
• F: Non-electrified siding
• G: From Middlesbrough
• H: Towards Middlesbrough

Sunderland
Tyne and Wear Metro station
Location	Sunderland, City of Sunderland England
Coordinates	54°54′20″N 1°22′57″W
Grid reference	NZ396569
Transit authority	Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive
Platforms	4
Tracks	2
Construction
Bicycle facilities	10 cycle racks
Disabled access	Step-free access to platform level
Other information
Station code	SUN
Fare zone	C
History
Original company	Tyne and Wear Metro
Key dates
31 March 2002	Joined the Tyne and Wear Metro network
Passengers
2017/18	0.77 million[11]
Services
Preceding station Metro Following station Park Lane towards South Hylton Green Line St Peter's towards Airport
Location

Sunderland is served by the Green Line (running from South Hylton & Sunderland to Newcastle City Centre, Regent Centre & Newcastle Airport).

This line runs up to every 12 minutes during the day (Monday to Saturday), and up to every 15 minutes in the evenings and on a Sunday.

To the south, services run to South Hylton along the alignment of the Sunderland to Durham mainline that fell victim to the Beeching cutbacks in May 1964. The first station is Park Lane, which provides a direct interchange with the bus and coach station. The line opened on 31 March 2002.[12]

Northbound, the first station is St. Peter's which is a couple of hundred yards south of the former Monkwearmouth station that was a museum from 1981 to 2017, when it then was sold to a private owner who then closed the museum and sold off the exhibits.

The track is shared with mainline trains as far as Pelaw Metro Junction, just south of Pelaw Metro station. The former mainline stations at Brockley Whins, East Boldon, Seaburn are now served only by the Metro. In addition new stations at Fellgate, the Stadium of Light, and St. Peter's were constructed.

On 12 December 2005, the Yellow and Green Lines of the Metro swapped between Pelaw & South Hylton and South Shields, meaning that there is a direct rail link between Sunderland and Newcastle Airport for the first time.

• Cooke, B.W.C., ed. (January 1966). "Transformation at Sunderland: Opening of modern station by the North Eastern Region". Railway Magazine. Vol. 112 no. 777. pp. 17–18.

• Media related to Sunderland station at Wikimedia Commons
• Train times and station information for Sunderland station from National Rail

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Hartlepool		Grand Central North Eastern		Terminus
Terminus		London North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Newcastle Central
Seaham		Northern Trains Durham Coast Line		Heworth
	Historical railways
Ryhope East Line open, station closed		London and North Eastern Railway Durham Coast Line		Monkwearmouth Line open, station closed
Terminus		London and North Eastern Railway Sunderland-South Shields		Monkwearmouth Line open, station closed
Millfield Line and station open		London and North Eastern Railway Penshaw branch		Terminus
Ryhope Line and station closed		London and North Eastern Railway Durham to Sunderland Line		Terminus