 The main concourse at Sunderland station is to close early at nights to allow for a £6.9 million refurbishment funded by Nexus.
From February 4 the main (south) concourse will close after 8.50pm Monday to Saturday while an escalator is installed at the station. In addition the lift in the main concourse will be out of action at all times from February 4 to be replaced. The north concourse, which also has a lift, remains open at all times, and passengers should use this after 8.50pm or if they cannot use the stairs. Metro trains will stop at the north end of the station – platforms 1 and 4 – after 8.50pm rather than their normal stopping points while the main concourse is closed. The prjoect will see the station completely modernised at platform level with escalators to the concourse above. The station is used by up to ten Metro services an hour as well as Northern Rail regional train services. There are also plans by a third operator, Grand Central, to run direct inter-city services to London. Sunderland station is owned by Network Rail but we saw an opportunity to significantly improve facilities with support from the Department of Transport. The new station will be of the same standard as our own stations on the Sunderland line, such as Park Lane. We are funding this project using money saved by increasing Metro services to Sunderland in December 2005, in place of subsidised Northern Rail services.
|
