Sunderland station is a mainline and Tyne and Wear Metro station in Sunderland, north-east England. It is the only station in the country where both heavy rail and light rail services use the same tracks. Although the tracks are shared north of here as far as Fellgate Metro station, mainline trains do not call at any of those stations.
Layout
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Since 2002 when the station was remodelled to accommodate Metro services the layout has been unique in the Great Britain. The station has a large central island platform with each side split into two numbered platforms. Mainline services call at platforms 1 and 4 at the northern end, while platforms 2 and 3 at the southern end are for Metro services.
Key to diagram
- Black lines: Track shared by Metro and mainline services, electrified at 1500v DC overhead.
- Green lines: Track used by Metro services only, electrified at 1500v DC overhead.
- Blue lines: Track used by mainline services only, not electrified.
- Grey area: covered station shed.
- Maroon area: Platforms.
- Platform 1: Southbound mainline services.
- Platform 2: Southbound Metro services.
- Platform 3: Northbound Metro services.
- Platform 4: Northbound mainline services.
- A: Towards Newcastle
- B: From Newcastle
- C: From South Hylton
- D: To South Hylton
- E: Electrified siding
- F: Non-electrified siding
- G: From Middlesbrough
- H: Towards Middlesbrough
Metro services
Metro services run at a peak of eight per hour calling at all stations. To the south, services run to South Hylton along the alignment of the Sunderland to Durham mainline that fell to the Beeching Axe in the 1960s. The first station is Park Lane, which provides a direct interchange with the bus and coach station.
Northbound the first station is St Peter's which is a couple of hundred yards south of the long closed Monkwearmouth station that is now a museum.
The track is shared with mainline tranis as far as Pelaw Metro Junction, just south of Pelaw Metro station. The former mainline stations at Brockley Whins, East Boldon, Seaburn are now served only by the Metro. In addition new stations at Fellgate, the Stadium of Light, and St Peter's were constructed.
On 12 December 2005 the Yellow and Green Lines of the Metro swaped routes between Pelaw and South Shields / Sunderland and South Hylton, meaning that there is a direct rail link between Sunderland and Newcastle Airport for the first time.
Mainline services
The current regional operator Northern Rail provides an off-peak service of one train per hour between Sunderland and Newcastle in both directions, with many trains also running to the MetroCentre shopping centre, Hexham, Carlisle and Middlesbrough.
The service to Newcastle Central Station is now considered an express service, calling only at Heworth, which is also served by the Metro, but the lines are segregated at this point. The former stopping service is now provided only by the Metro.
In January 2006, Grand Central Trains were granted permission to run four trains per day from Sunderland to London Kings Cross via Eaglescliffe (for Middlesbrough), Northallerton, Thirsk and York. The service is expected to begin in December 2006.
Electrification
The electrification at Sunderland station is all 1500 volts DC for the Tyne and Wear Metro EMUs. This means that mainline electric locos and multiple units, which require 25,000 volts AC, are banned from the area. Additionally the reconstruction of the station to allow the Metro services to call here now means that Mark IV coaches now cannot call at the station, even when being dragged by a diesel loco, as they are out-of-gauge.
External links
Northern Rail Grand Central Trains
- Train times and station information for Sunderland station from National Rail
- Annotated aerial view of Sunderland station
| Preceding station |  National Rail
|
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seaham | Northern Rail (Durham Coast) |
Heworth | ||
| Terminus | Northern Rail (Sunderland to Metro Centre) |
|||
| Hartlepool | Grand Central Trains | Terminus | ||