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Nexus
welcomes £20m facelift at Haymarket Metro station
|
| Nexus welcomed the approval of £20m plans to transform Haymarket
Metro Station in the centre of Newcastle - used by 60,000 passengers
every week on 18 August 2006. . The development, granted planning permission by city councillors, will see the existing 1980 station replaced by a four-storey steel and glass building boasting office space, shops, a bar and a restaurant. Nexus, the Metro operator, says the completed scheme will offer passengers a vastly improved travel experience with more modern facilities at a hugely important gateway to Newcastle. Both the station concourse and platform area will be modernised. The scheme is being carried out by the Newcastle-based Closegate Developments who will pay for the work - and this means an exciting new landmark for Metro delivered without cost to taxpayers or passengers. Bernard Garner, Director General of Nexus, said: “I’m delighted this development has been given the go-ahead. It’s great news for passengers and great news for Newcastle city centre. We are working with Closegate to deliver a modern station for passengers now and in the future. When the work is complete people can look forward to transformed facilities at one of our busiest stations, significantly improving their experience of Metro. Haymarket station showed the shape of things to come when it opened on the first day of Metro in 1980. It will again be a taste of the future as we raise support for our £500m Metro modernisation programme for the decades ahead.” The scheme involves the demolition of the current Haymarket station, providing station and retail space on the street level with commercial space on four floor levels above, which includes a mezzanine floor area. In the passenger concourse at street level the Nexus Travelshop, staff areas, pedestrian barriers and ticket machines will be relocated. The ceiling, walls, floor finishing, lighting, CCTV, PA system, fire detection and alarm system will all be replaced or refurbished and upgraded. The passenger lift will also be replaced and a third escalator put in place of the existing flight of stairs. The two existing escalators will be replaced. Both of the station’s platforms will be refurbished, with new floors, walls and ceilings to enhance the passenger waiting area. It is anticipated that the construction phase will commence in March 2007 and last approximately 18 months. There will be no requirement to totally close the station . Some inconvenience to passengers is expected while the construction and refurbishment work is undertaken but will be kept to a minimum. Haymarket is the second busiest Metro station on the system behind Monument and every year it is used by three million people. It averages in the region of 60,000 passenger journeys per week. The station opened in August 1980 and was the first to open when the Metro started running trains for passengers between Haymarket and Tynemouth. The Metro system carries in the region of 100,000 people per day helping them to access work and leisure facilities across Tyneside and Wearside. In the last year the Metro took 36 million passenger journeys. |
| Last Updated: 18 August 2006 |
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