Longbenton Metro station

Longbenton Metro station is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro network. It is set amongst the residential streets of the Longbenton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, although is probably more utilised due to its proximity to St Mary's RC Comprehensive School and the HMRC office complex, which the station was originally built to serve.

History

The station itself predates the Metro light rail system; it was opened in July 1947 by the LNER, which operated electric suburban passenger services on the North Tyneside Loop, the predecessor of the Metro's Yellow line (see Tyneside Electrics).

Longbenton station closed in January 1978 for Metro conversion work. The necessary alterations included shortening of the platforms, construction of a new footbridge with ramps to improve wheelchair access, and installation of new signage and ticket machines. Metro service began in August 1980.

The structure and interior of the station remained largely unchanged until 2001, when extensive refurbishment work took place. GWK Chartered Architects, a Newcastle-based company, provided designs for a new Ticket Hall and the eastbound line entrance. The term Ticket Hall harks back to the old station, as Metro's ticketing system is fully automated. The westbound section of the station was upgraded and refurbished.

Station artwork

The station gained some art in June 2001, when Tag-Tile,a specially commissioned work by Rob Belilios and Simon Jones, was unveiled by Eddie Darke, the North Tyneside Councillor for Longbenton at the time. Both artists have local connections, although they are also known on a national level. The artwork was created in collaboration with local young people, as part of an initiative in response graffiti. The station also features Journey's Echo, artwork created in collaboration with 6th Form students from St Mary's Comprehensive School.

Ticketing anomalies

Different zonal fare systems are used for Metro single tickets and inter-modal Transfare tickets, which means that for a number of journeys a Transfare may actually be cheaper than a standard Metro-only ticket.

Station	Network Zone	Metro Zone
Ilford Road	17	A
West Jesmond	17	A

References

• Homepage of GWK, which provides details of their involvement with the updating of the station

External links

• Train times and station information for from Nexus