In town recently for the Newcastle vs. West Ham game, we took a train to London the next morning…read more Being our first time in town, we didn't know what to expect in terms of the station, but our experience was positive and in line with the other reviews... We found the staff helpful, the station easy enough to navigate, etc... I was glad that we arrived early to find which platform our LNER train was on (#3) and then figure out what area to board based on our prebooked tickets. I didn't realize until it was too late that there was a designated warmer indoor area for us to wait. Bummer! Our train departed on time but did hit a delay on our route... clearly that is not the fault of the Newcastle Central Station, however. I'm not sure if/when I'll be back, but if you find yourself in the area, this is a beautiful station to come into or out of. Safe travels!

It's living history in this city of seven bridges. The train station is 224 years old and it is…read morefree to go into, explore and admire. The station opened in August 1850, as part of the then Newcastle & Carlisle Railway and York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway. Now it's a Grade 1 listed building located in the city's Grainger Town area, to the west of the Castle Keep. The station was noted for its complex set of diamond crossings to the east of the station which facilitated access to the High Level Bridge and northbound East Coast Main Line and was said to be the greatest such crossing in the world. The crossing was the subject of many early-1900s post cards, titled The Largest Railway Crossing in the World, photographed from the castle (towards the station), or from the station towards the castle. Trains cross the River Tyne on one of two bridges. The older High Level Bridge, south-east of the station, was designed by Robert Stephenson opened on 27 September 1849. Its location meant north-south trains had to reverse in the station to continue their journey. The King Edward VII Bridge south-west of the station opened on 10 July 1906 allowing north-south trains to continue without reversing. The two bridges enable the trackwork north and south of the river to form a complete circle, allowing trains to be turned if necessary. The former Gateshead depot next to the connecting tracks on the south side of the Tyne, mirrored Newcastle station.

The MetroCentre Interchange is a fairly nice public transportation Interchange, mainly serving the…read moreintu Metrocentre, which is the largest shopping centre in the UK. It is actually fairly unusual for a shopping centre to have its' own devoted Interchange, and something I have only seen once before in the case of Meadowhall in Sheffield, both of them are down to location, these large shopping centres are often located out of town, hence an Interchange for the likes of buses and trains is needed. From the Interchange, it can be slightly tricky finding your way to the Metrocentre if you're a first-time visitor, as you normally have to go up a lift and the signage, in that case, could be improved. The Interchange has an adjoining Railway Station, and in its-self, it has 12 platforms, served by most operators including GO North East, Arriva and Stagecoach. Services to and from here can go to the likes of intu Eldon Square, Central Station, Durham and Gateshead. When I visited, there seemed to be a small delay of the buses going into Newcastle and Gateshead, hence causing confusion, as I didn't mind which bus I was going to get on as they were both roughly the same distance on foot from my Hilton hotel, I managed to wait around the same area which they were both located at. The use of big screens such as at intu Eldon Square and more staff around the Interchange showing the next bus to each destination and not just the "final destination" stated on the bus would also have been useful. A medium to high two-star rating for this Interchange, which is let down by issues such as the slightly complicated nature, big screens and the station being understaffed.

Monument Metro Station was the first station I visited to use the Metro on my on-going trip to…read moreNewcastle. Monument is one of the main Metrolink stations serving Eldon Square and Newcastle city centre, this is located just outside the restaurants on the lower floor of Eldon Square. The station was okay, it did have some staff who seemed a little helpful and it did have machines to buy tickets, although I found the touchscreens to be so stiff you literally had to punch the screen to buy the tickets, and in all honesty I felt like David Haye or Ricky Hatton afterwards, as it felt like I was in a fighting match against the machine just to get my £5 All zones day saver. There was one lift down to the concourse and then one into the platform which is typical of any underground railway system station whether in the Tyne and Wear network or others such as London or Madrid. There was also a few shops downstairs in the metro stop and Amazon Lockers which was pretty cool, the latter, of course, is especially useful if you're going to be out and want to get a delivery, it means you don't have to wait perhaps the next working day to pick it up from a parcel shop, as is the case with Royal Mail. The floor to train was up a slight gap, it was slightly uneven but I also noticed this at other metro stations such as at Gateshead and Central Station but overall this is a decent metro station and a cool station to start off my journey on the Tyne and Wear metro, in a good, central location, hence deserving a two star rating.

Monument is the flagship station on the Tyne & Wear Metro. You can get to the Airport and South…read moreHylton on the Green Line and St James, the Shields and the Coast on the Yellow. Despite being the main metro interchange, most centrally located Station and popular meeting point, it is very very run down and old looking. I suggest that Nexus refurbish it to the same standard as Central Station and Haymarket if they want to impress me. The lift here is seriously dodgy. If it shakes once, you are a goner. The escalators are no better. The ticket barriers thankfully work fine but I had an issue with the automated ticket dispenser once. It would not accept my Scottish fiver so I had to go to one of the security guys to ask where I could exchange it for cash or an English note. It is convenient for Eldon Square and the TK Maxx end of Northumberland St though, I will give it that.

Beautiful station and platforms are *** 3 star for cleanlinessread more

The Metro is a convenient way to get around Newcastle. The infamous black and yellow sign has…read moredominated the city since the 1980s and it is still going strong, even nowadays in 2017. It opened in 1980 and I don't think it has changed at all since then! The trains are old and rattle a lot, and the seats are quite frayed and ripped. Some of the stations are quite dated as well. The city centre stations all have large escalators, but they are not as large as the ones on the London Underground. These stations also have step free access in the form of very old, very unreliable lifts. I would avoid going in them as they seem very dodgy. It covers a good area of the city. You can get to the airport from the city centre in about 20 minutes, and it will only cost you about £5. You will need to select zones A, B and C for the airport, and that is why it is more expensive than other destinations. Not as large as the tube, but it has more frequent services than the Edinburgh Tram and covers more ground. It is also convenient for reaching the coast and Sunderland.

Haymarket Metro is one of the stations serving Newcastle city centre on the Tyne and Wear Metro…read moresystem, it is located in Haymarket, close to the bus station and Northumberland Street. It is in a decent, central location and is the nearest metro station to places such as Newcastle University. As a station, it is slightly old-fashioned in parts, although some parts are slightly newer, having some work done around 2009/2010. There wasn't a huge staffed presence at this station, some parts, before you got to the main platform, seemed to have not changed much in the refurb, so this wasn't the greatest, nicest or brightest metro station in parts, which is a shame. I'm struggling to comment further - this metro station is probably below average, but in a decent location. Would it be missed if this station wasn't here? Probably because of the need for a metro-station in the Haymarket area, which is close to the University and the City centre of Newcastle/Northumberland Street, hence warranting at least a two-star rating.

At the moment I rate this metro station with two stars only since it is on ongoing maintenance and…read morerenovation thus imposing difficulty for the metro users, especially during the evenings when regularly most of the work is carried out. Since the Heymarket market station is located in one of the busiest areas in Newcastle and next to Newcastle university it has all the necessary facilities: 3 escalators ( the third recently placed), elevator and kiosks. The way to the platform is very steep so the use of escalators is essential. It is cleaned regularly and is very well lit at night time. The big advantage is the regular service.

As a Bus Station, Eldon Square is quite impressive, it is a large bus station and is inside the…read moreintu Eldon Square Shopping mall, fairly close to branches of John Lewis, Costa and Poundland, it has a giant screen broadcasting all the locations you can get too from here and the next two buses to get to that location which is cool, and that really helped me on my journey as of course I'm not from Newcastle, or the North East area and have little local knowledge, with this only being my second day in the city which I have only visited once before when Manchester City thrashed Newcastle 3-1 in December 2012. There wasn't many staff around the bus station to ask for help which was a shame, there was also a lack of announcements in the station. It seemed to serve a good amount of locations including Durham, however the 52 minute bus journey is dwarfed by the 10-15 minutes it takes on a train with First TransPennine or Virgin East Coast. I used this bus station today to go to and from Angel of the North, and then onto the Metrocentre and I found this to be the best interchange out of the three I've visited, which also included Gateshead which is also quite near to my Hilton hotel. Overall, the location is good and the services it provides is good, however if you want to continue your journey via bus or metro, you might need to walk or get another bus from their to the train station, another main issue is the lack of staff around the station yet I still think Eldon Square Bus Station warrants a solid three star rating.