Longbenton Metro station

Longbenton is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Longbenton in North Tyneside and High Heaton in Newcastle upon Tyne. The station joined the network in August 1980, following the opening of the line between Haymarket and Tynemouth – the first stage of the network to open.

Longbenton
Tyne and Wear Metro
Location
PlaceLongbenton
Local authorityNorth Tyneside
Coordinates55.0088°N 1.5914°W / 55.0088; -1.5914
Fare zone information
Metro zoneB
Network One2
Original zone17
Station codeLBN
Operations
Platforms2
Usage
Metro Usage0.80[1] million
History
Original companyLondon and North Eastern Railway
Opened 14 July 1947 (1947-07-14)
Closed for conversion23 January 1978
Metro since11 August 1980
Distance from datum
Out distance1.346 km (0.84 mi)
In distance27.415 km (17.03 mi)
List of stations

Longbenton is located a short walk from the nearby HMRC Benton Park View on Benton Park Road, and about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from the Freeman Hospital.

The station was used by 804,705 passengers in 2017–18, making it the most-used station in North Tyneside, and the ninth-most-used on the network.

History

The station originally opened in July 1947, under the London and North Eastern Railway, which operated electric suburban passenger services on the North Tyneside Loop – known as the Tyneside Electrics. The original neoclassical station building was joined by a covered concrete footbridge and waiting rooms in the late 1950s, all of which were frequent targets for vandals by the 1970s.

Following closure for conversion in the late 1970s, a number of alterations were made to the station, including the shortening of platforms, construction of a new footbridge with spiral ramps to improve wheelchair access, and installation of new signage and ticket machines.

After the initial conversion work, the station buildings remained largely unchanged until 1999, when extensive refurbishment work took place. A new ticket hall was added on the eastbound platforms, and related aesthetic changes were made to the original footbridge constructed by the London and North Eastern Railway. The 1940s station building on the westbound platforms of the station was also upgraded and refurbished.[2]

In 2001, Tag-Tile, an artwork designed by Rob Belilios and Simon Jones, was commissioned for the station.[3] The artwork was created with the involvement of local young people, in response to graffiti issues at the station. The station also features Journey's Echo, a collection of artwork created in collaboration with sixth form students from the nearby secondary school, which was commissioned in 1999.[4]

Facilities

Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with ramped access to platforms. Ramps also provide step-free access over the footbridge between platforms. The station is equipped with ticket machines, waiting shelter, seating, next train information displays, timetable posters, and an emergency help point on both platforms. Ticket machines are able to accept payment with credit and debit card (including contactless payment), notes and coins.[5][6] The station is also fitted with smartcard validators, which feature at all stations across the network.[7][8] A small newsagent's shop is housed within the station building, on the westbound platform (trains towards South Shields).

There is no dedicated car parking available at the station. There is the provision for cycle parking, with 5 cycle pods available for use.[9]

Service and frequency

Longbenton is served by the  Yellow Line , which operates between South Shields and St. James with an end-to-end journey time of 83 minutes.

Services from platform 1 operate towards South Shields, with the first train departing at 05:21 (05:29 on Saturday and 06:51 on Sunday). Services from platform 2 operate towards St. James via Whitley Bay, with the first train departing at 05:08 (05:27 on Saturday and 06:12 on Sunday). Trains run frequently across the network, at intervals of up to every 12 minutes (Monday to Saturday daytime), and every 15 minutes (evening and Sunday), with the last trains departing at around midnight.

Additional trains run during morning and evening peak hours (Monday to Friday) between Pelaw and Monkseaton. This provides up to 10 trains per hour through the station at peak times.[9]

Journey times from Longbenton are:

gollark: Repeatedly, until you acknowledge them.
gollark: You could set up scripts to read them out to you via TTS at random times.
gollark: You really should follow these things by RSS reader.
gollark: I can compress images nicely for thumbnails so it isn't really a huge issue. I'm mostly concerned about actually having good images.
gollark: Indeed.

See also

References
  1. "Tyne and Wear Metro usage figures 2017–2018". Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  2. "Disused Stations: Longbenton Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  3. "'Tag Tile' by Simon Jones & Rob Belilios". Nexus. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  4. "'Journey's Echo' by Elinor Eastwood". Nexus. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  5. "Metro passengers feel the benefit of contactless payment". Nexus. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  6. "Revamp for Metro ticket machines". BBC News. 11 December 2011. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  7. "City Metro stations get new smart ticket machines and gates". Nexus. 22 October 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  8. "Pop card validators at Metro stations are put through their paces". Nexus. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  9. "Timetables and stations: Longbenton". Nexus. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
Preceding station   Tyne and Wear Metro   Following station
towards St James
Yellow line
towards South Shields
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