Haymarket Metro Station

Haymarket Metro station is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro in the north of the city centre of Newcastle upon 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's City Campus West, the Civic Centre, and the major shopping area that surrounds Northumberland Street. It is also adjacent to Haymarket bus station. 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 The station also has underground rooms, restricted from the public, which contain archives and various historical documents.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 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 and Halifax.

The building was nominated for the 2009 Carbuncle Cup, but was not completed in time to be considered. It was however one of six buildings to be shortlisted for the 2010 Carbuncle Cup.

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