Newcastle Central Station

Newcastle (also known as Newcastle Central and locally as Central station) is a railway station in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line, around 268 miles (432 km) north of London King's Cross. It is the primary National Rail station serving the city and an interchange for local services provided by the Tyne and Wear Metro network, whose Central station is situated directly underground. The station is the busiest in Tyne & Wear and in North East England; it is the seventh busiest in Northern England. Services on the East Coast Main Line run from London to Edinburgh, via York and Berwick. There is a frequent service across the Pennines to Manchester and Liverpool. Cross-country services connect the city with the West Midlands and South West of England. The station is also on the Durham Coast Line, with connections to Gateshead, Sunderland, Hartlepool, Stockton and Middlesbrough; the Tyne Valley Line to Hexham and Carlisle and the Northumberland Line to Ashington. Additional direct destinations from the station include Aberdeen, Glasgow, Durham, Darlington, Leeds, Sheffield, Derby, Birmingham, Reading, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth. The station opened in August 1850, as part of the then Newcastle & Carlisle Railway and York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway. Now a Grade I listed building, it is located in the city's Grainger Town area, to the west of the Castle Keep. In Simon Jenkins' Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations, the station was one of only ten to be awarded five stars.