Central Station (also known as Central) is an underground Tyne and Wear Metro station, serving the Grainger Town area of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It joined the network on 15 November 1981, following the opening of the third phase of the network, between Haymarket and Heworth Interchange. The station is named after Newcastle Central railway station, which stands directly above it.
Central Station  | ||||||||||||||||
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 Station entrance in Grainger Street | ||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Neville Street, Grainger Town, NE1 Newcastle upon Tyne England | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 54°58′09″N 1°36′59″W / 54.9691°N 1.6165°W | |||||||||||||||
| OS Grid ref | NZ 2465 6390 | |||||||||||||||
| System | Tyne and Wear Metro | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Nexus | |||||||||||||||
| Lines |
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| Platforms | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Connections | ||||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | Underground | |||||||||||||||
| Cycle facilities | Cycle racks in National Rail station with 174 spaces[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Step-free access throughout, with lifts from National Rail station to platforms and level-boarding to trains | |||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||
| Status | Staffed intermittently[2] | |||||||||||||||
| Station code | CEN | |||||||||||||||
| Fare zone | A | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Original company | Tyne and Wear Metro | |||||||||||||||
| Key dates | ||||||||||||||||
| 15 November 1981 | Opened | |||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Refurbished | |||||||||||||||
| Passengers | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020/21 |  678,397 | |||||||||||||||
| 2021/22 |  3.212 million | |||||||||||||||
| 2022/23 | 4.082 million | |||||||||||||||
| 2023/24 | 4.440 million | |||||||||||||||
| 2024/25 | 4.365 million | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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History
editCentral Station joined the Tyne and Wear Metro network on 15 November 1981, following the opening of the third phase of the network, between Haymarket and Heworth Interchange.
The station is located below Newcastle Central, the National Rail station from which it gets its name. It is the third-busiest on the network after Monument and Haymarket. The station has entrances from inside the National Rail station, and from both Neveille Street and Grainger Street.
Metro serves as a replacement for some routes that had formerly been operated from the mainline station towards Benton & Tynemouth via the North Tyneside Loop. In 1984, Metro reached South Shields, again replacing British Rail services. In 2002, Metro was extended to South Hylton via Sunderland, where it shares tracks between Pelaw Junction and Sunderland with National Rail services on the Durham Coast Line.
The station was used by 4.365 million passengers in 2024/25,[3] considerably lower than the pre-pandemic figure of 5.400 million in 2018/19.[3]
Refurbishment
editFacilities
editThe station has two platforms, seating, next train audio and visual displays, timetable and information posters and an emergency help point. The ticket hall is located on the upper level, with ticket machines (which accept cash, card and contactless payment) and automatic ticket barriers, which were installed at 13 stations across the network during the early 2010s.[6][7] There is step-free access to both platforms by lift, with platforms also linked by escalator and staircase.[2]
On 8 December 2025, Metro started a trial to provide free wifi in Central Station, allowing passengers to access the internet from platform-level.[8][9] Central Station is the first station on the Metro to have wifi access.[8]
Services
editAs of May 2026[update], the station is served by up to ten trains per hour on weekdays and Saturdays, and up to eight trains per hour during the evening and on Sundays. Additional services operate between Pelaw and Monkseaton at peak times.[2]
Gallery
edit
Entrance from inside the National Rail station
Platform 1, pre-refurbishment
Station concourse
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References
edit- ↑ "Newcastle (NCL)". National Rail. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Central Station". Metro. Travel North East. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 Nexus (25 February 2026). "Passenger Numbers". WhatDoTheyKnow. Letter to Rhys Williams. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
- ↑ "£6m revamp of Central Station Metro gets underway". Nexus (Press release). 7 September 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
- ↑ "£6m refurbishment of Metro's Newcastle Central Station completed". Nexus (Press release). 13 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
- ↑ "City Metro stations get new smart ticket machines and gates". Nexus (Press release). 22 October 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
- ↑ "Pop card validators at Metro stations are put through their paces". Nexus (Press release). 21 March 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
- 1 2 "Free Wi-Fi is trialled on the Tyne and Wear Metro". Nexus (Press release). 10 December 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2026.
- ↑ "Metro Connect WiFi". Metro. Travel North East. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
External links
edit
- Timetable and station information for Central Station
- Map of the local area, showing bus stop locations