This station is an embarrassment and a stain on our city centre... a cold, empty shell with broken toilets
A £27 million train station has been branded a “massive embarrassment” after attracting just 1 business since its grand makeover.
The modern glass-fronted Sunderland Station opened in December 2023 and was hailed by Labour council leaders as “stunning and ambitious”. The station boasted three sprawling retail units but none are occupied with just a coffee kiosk selling drinks and snacks to passengers.
Furious Liberal Democrat opposition leader Paul Edgeworth blasted the empty concourse as a “massive let down”. He told the BBC: “Whilst the world’s smallest coffee shop is better than nothing, this station building is still a massive embarrassment for our city.
“Labour’s council bosses hailed it as ‘stunning and ambitious’ when it opened, but in reality it is a massive let down and a stain on our city centre – a cold, uninviting, empty shell where toilets, escalators and doors are permanently broken.”
Passengers are also unimpressed, with some likening the design to a “weird art installation”. Train user Alistair Wright, 35, from Sunderland, said: “I use the trains a lot for work and was quite excited by the new station. When it was unveiled I just thought ‘is this it?’ You don’t get much for £27 million quid. It’s a bit like walking through a weird art installation.”
Another said: “It’s basically an aircraft hangar with a few cold metal benches like the ones you see in prisons. People joke that it represents Sunderland pretty well because it’s cold, grey and dull.”
Council leader Michael Mordey defended the station which was partly paid for from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund. Speaking to the BBC he said: “I am clear there are improvements that can be made, but the station we have today is 100 times better than what was there before.”
A Northern Trains spokesperson said: “We are working with Network Rail to make improvements to Sunderland station. The weekly market, with stalls run by local businesses and live music performances, is proving to be really popular.
“Caribe Coffee set up a kiosk at the station last year and a number of businesses have shown interest in leasing the retail units. The largest one is under offer.”
Currently the only trader in the station is Caribe Coffee, which opened a kiosk in September. Owner Quincy Docherty said Sunderland was “on the up” but said the station “could do with more businesses”.