Inside Sunderland's new £27million train station entrance as work forges ahead

Work is forging ahead on the new gateway to the city and we went for a look around as the new Southern entrance to the train station takes shape.

What was once a dark and dingy space is now a light and airy station entrance that’s set to welcome its first train travellers this autumn.

Despite looking much larger than it once was, it actually stands in the footprint of the old station, but the addition of a heightened roof and glass wrap around front has opened up the space and filled it with natural light.

It’s a major £27million pound investment in the city and will be a boost to the 1.7million Metro journeys that take place a year, as well as the 400,000 mainline railway travellers who use the station annually.

Once the internal fit out is complete, it will include a new ticket office and reception, retail space and cafes, comfortable waiting areas, a new mezzanine level that will have office space reserved for rail industry staff – and much-needed public toilets.

The ongoing project – which also includes a new multi-storey car park at Holmeside - is part of a wider £100 million plan to transform the city’s key transport hub.

Leading construction company BAM Nuttall has been leading the development since demolition work concluded in October.

BAM UK & Ireland chief operating officer John Wilkinson said it’s been an exciting project to deliver.

"We’ve been working very closely with Sunderland City Council to get to this stage of the project – and what a fantastic, modern entrance and gateway to the city for the future,” he said.

"We’re really proud to be supporting this. I’m a North East resident myself and we’ve been able to use a lot of the local supply chain, so there’s spin off benefits to the economy as well.

"It will be a fantastic part of Sunderland city regeneration moving forward.”

Driven by Sunderland City Council, in partnership with Network Rail, Nexus, Grand Central and Northern Rail, the Council is now drumming up support for an entire station makeover over the coming years, with a vision to revamp the northern entrance of the station, as well as platform-level works to increase the capacity of the station, with four tracks and four platforms to separate Nexus and Metro from mainline services.

Cllr Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “I’m delighted with the progress: we’re on time and on budget. And we’re lookinig forward to residents getting to use the Southern entrance when completed.

"It’s essential that we have a gateway in and out of the city that’s worthy of the name.”

Thousands pass the entrance every day and there’s been lots of interest from passersby on the ongoing work.

"People were delighted to see the old entrance torn down,” added Cllr Miller. “It was terrible, it was like going down a cave onto the platforms and the residents were quite right to expect a better station than we had.”