Gateshead Interchange could be demolished as MP backs plan for major overhaul of bus and Metro hub

Gateshead’s transport interchange “doesn’t work” and needs to be redeveloped, the town’s new MP says.

Mark Ferguson has backed major plans to demolish the town centre bus and Metro interchange, used by nine million people a year, and totally reconfigure the site. A £34 million overhaul of the transport hub is named among the many ambitions that make up a new Local Transport Plan for the North East, with it earmarked as a project that could be completed in 2032.

Proposals backed by North East mayor Kim McGuinness and council leaders last week describe the vision to demolish and rebuild the 1980s interchange “on a smaller footprint, redesigned to address safety and security limitations, new retail, office and accommodation space, reconfiguration of the Metro station to make better use of the space and create better integration between public transport and the retail”.

READ MORE:Paint firm AkzoNobel announces major programme of job losses

READ MORE:'Super Spoons' in Newcastle creates 70 new jobs after £5m refurbishment

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service at Labour’s party conference in Liverpool, Mr Ferguson said: “I think it is a real opportunity to make better use of that space in the town centre. I have been speaking to Nexus, as well as working closely with Kim and the council, and I think everybody wants the same thing.

“If, like me, you are in and out of the interchange every week then you know it doesn’t work. It has been exactly the same since I was a kid and it needs to be better. I think a smaller, better interchange is very much something we should all welcome.

“At the same time, this Local Transport Plan is going to take investment and will require those of us who are elected in the region to do the work to make sure the money is there so these things can be delivered.”

Also included in the £8.7 billion plans to radically upgrade the North East’s transport system is the addition of a new railway station that would serve Gateshead town centre and the Quayside. That is currently listed among potential projects to be completed by 2040.

The Gateshead Central and Whickham MP added: “It is something that is incredibly important because Gateshead is one of the biggest towns in the country not to have its own train station. We are very fortunate to have proximity to Newcastle and the East Coast Main Line.

“But Gateshead would still benefit and regional connectivity would be improved if we had a train station. I am not going to stand here and make promises that cannot be kept about a timeframe, but I am going to make sure I am fighting for it because it is what the people of Gateshead deserve.”

Cathy Massarella, managing director of Metro operator Nexus, said: “Gateshead Interchange is a key regional gateway used by nine million customers a year. It’s a vital facility for people to access public transport services. We are working with Gateshead Council and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness on plans for a major redevelopment of the Interchange. The proposed scheme has already been identified as something that the Mayor wants to deliver through the Local Transport Plan.

“The project would be transformational for Gateshead town centre, providing it with modernised facilities for people to access bus and Metro services. Millions of pounds are needed to make this exciting project become reality in the years ahead and we look forward to working with our local authority partners to secure the funding and to take the project forward.”