Green light for station plan
A £4 million plan to dramatically redesign Newcastle’s Central Station has been given the green light.
The huge transformation will see two new entrances to the Victorian railway station built, its car parks and taxi rank moved, and passenger capacity increased.
One of the new entrances to the 170-year-old station will be created on Central Parkway, opposite the Centre for Life, leading passengers down a new concourse towards the platforms.
The second new entrance will be located at the front of the station on Neville Street, where the Enterprise car rental currently sits.
City leaders hope that the improvements will also help pave the way for a new multistorey car park, 2,500 homes, and offices on the Forth Yards site to the south west of the station.
After planners approved listed building consent for the first stage of the multi-million pound works to go ahead later this year, Newcastle City Council boss Ged Bell said the development will help with the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Coun Bell, the authority’s cabinet member for employment and culture, added: “This is great news for the city.
“Newcastle Central Station is the gateway to the region. With rising passenger numbers, we need to ensure it offers a pleasant experience while playing its part to help the city recover and grow after the pandemic.
“The new entrances will open the station up to the wider area - Stephenson Quarter, and the Forth Yards area that will be the city’s next big development site providing quality homes with views of the river.
“By improving traffic flows at the front of the station we hope to cut carbon emissions, helping the city become carbon-zero by 2030 and tackling climate change.
“Central Station was opened by Queen Victoria and is a Grade I listed building.
“Although some demolition will be required, opening it up will expose original features that have been hidden away for years and will take the building back to the way it looked in 1850.”
The redesign plans will also include:
■ A new public and retail space inside the station with a glazed roof, in what is currently used as a delivery area
■ Moving the taxi rank into the existing short-stay car park at the front of the station, with taxis queuing up Bewick Street
■ Pedestrianising the Orchard Street tunnel, where the taxi rank currently is, and cleaning it
■ Installing a new lift inside the
Orchard Street tunnel to provide additional access to the station
■ Moving the short-stay car park into the current long-stay car park to the east of the station
■ Refurbishing the road tunnel at Forth Street beneath the railway bridge
■ A new access road into Forth Goods Yard, currently used as a railyard for Network Rail, to unlock the site for developments including a multi-storey car park
■ Improving traffic flow at the front of the station with better traffic signalling.
Claire Ansley, director of customer experience at LNER, said: “We are pleased that the plans to enhance Newcastle Central Station have been approved.
“The enhancements we’re making will help make the station more accessible from the surrounding areas and provide an even warmer welcome to the thousands of people travelling to and from the city every day.”