 Newcastle Central is the principal mainline railway station in the city. It opened in 1850 and is a Grade I listed building. The
station also has its own entrance to the underground Tyne and Wear
Metro station.
The station was designed by John Dobson for the North Eastern Railway company,
and was constructed in collaboration with Robert Stephenson (also responsible for the
High Level
Bridge) between 1845 and 1850. The opening ceremony, attended by Queen Victoria, took place on 29 August1850.
The building has a Classical styled frontage, and its
trainshed has a distinctive roof with three curved, arched spans — one of the first examples of its kind. A portico, designed by Thomas Prosser, was
added to the station entrance in 1863, and
the trainshed was extended southwards in the 1890s with a new span designed by William Bell.
An underground station for Tyne and Wear Metro trains was constructed
during the late 1970s, and opened in 1981. Part of the portico was temporarily
dismantled while excavation work for this station took place.
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