Central Station joined the
Tyne and Wear Metro network on 15 November 1981, following the opening of the third phase of the network, between
Haymarket and
Heworth. The station is located below , the
National Rail station from which it gets its name. It is the third-busiest on the network after and . The station has entrances from inside the
National Rail station, and from the street. Metro serves as a replacement for some routes that had formerly been operated from the
mainline station towards & via the
North Tyneside Loop. In 1984, Metro reached , replacing
British Rail services. In 2002, Metro was extended to and , where it shares tracks between and Sunderland with
Northern services on the
Durham Coast Line.
Refurbishment Between September 2015 and March 2017, the station was refurbished – a project costing £6million. == Facilities ==