Haymarket Metro station is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro

Tyne and Wear Metro

The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...

 in the north of the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

. Like the other stations in the city centre, its platforms are located underground. The station is used by approximately six million passengers every year.

It is the nearest station to Newcastle University, Northumbria University

Northumbria University

Northumbria University is an academic institution located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. It is a member of the University Alliance.- History :...

's City Campus West, the Civic Centre

Newcastle Civic Centre

Newcastle Civic Centre is a civic centre located in the Haymarket area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the main administrative and ceremonial centre for Newcastle City Council. Designed by the city architect, George Kenyon, the building was completed in 1967 and was formally opened by HM...

, and the major shopping area that surrounds Northumberland Street

Northumberland Street

Northumberland Street is a major shopping street in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England. It is home to a wide range of different retailers, banks and cafes, and in terms of rental per square metre, Northumberland Street is the most expensive location in the UK outside of...

. It is also adjacent to Haymarket bus station

Bus station

A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...

. It is the deepest station on the Metro system; the old staircase had 105 steps. The station also has underground rooms, restricted from the public, which contain archives and various historical documents.

Opening

The station was the terminus of the Metro system, when the first stage opened in 1980. Empty trains reversed using the trailing crossover between here and Monument. However, this was a temporary measure, as the system was extended southwards through the city centre to Heworth the following year. The first train from Haymarket was to Tynemouth on 11 August 1980. A number of buildings housing a Greenwood’s clothes store, Nobles amusement arcade and the old Tatler cinema were demolished to make way for the station.

Station rebuild

In August 2006 final plans for the complete reconstruction of the station, costing £20 million, were released. Initial plans for a £9 million facelift for the station had previously been announced in 2004. While work took place between 2007 and 2009 the station was closed at 19:45 Sunday to Thursday, but this restriction was lifted in September 2009. Nexus states £5 million of the total cost is being spent improving the station area for Metro passengers, including replacing two escalators and installing a new third escalator where there were previously stairs. The work on the station area was finished in late 2009.

Tolent Construction was appointed as contractor for the project headed by the development vehicle, 42nd Street Haymarket Hub. This is a joint venture company, owned 50% by Tolent, 33% by 42nd Street Realty Ltd and 17% by Closegate. Initially there had been plans to call the building and station the Haymarket Hub, however this now appears just to be the name of the building, with the station's Haymarket name remaining. Reid Jubb Brown were architects, with Arup

Arup

Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...

 as consulting engineers. Newcastle-based creative communications agency Gardiner Richardson and artist Lothar Goetz, a lecturer at Sunderland University, worked on passenger areas. Gardiner Richardson's work centred on updating Metro brand elements in the station, including the colour palette and signage, and Nexus sees this as a blueprint for other station modernisations within its £300 million Metro: All Change modernisation programme. Lothar Goetz created an artwork 'Canon' using different coloured vitreous enamel panels in the concourse, escalator shaft and platform areas.

Aside from the Nexus TravelShop, Haymarket also includes other retail outlets including a Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...

 and Halifax.

The building was nominated for the 2009 Carbuncle Cup

Carbuncle Cup

The Carbuncle Cup is an architecture prize, given annually by the magazine Building Design to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". The award was based on an idea created by the Scottish architecture magazine Prospect, which has run the Carbuncle Awards since...

.

The Princess Royal

Anne, Princess Royal

Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...

 officially opened the Haymarket station on 29 March 2010 after riding on the Metro system from Jesmond.

External links

• Haymarket Hub
• Train times and station information for Haymarket Metro station from Nexus
  Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive
  The Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive using the brandname of Nexus, is the Passenger Transport Executive for the Tyne and Wear region of North East England....