South Shields is a terminus station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving South Shields in South Tyneside. The station, originally located on King Street, joined the network in March 1984, following the opening of the line between Heworth and South Shields. The former railway station at South Shields, located on Mile End Road, opened in 1879, under the North Eastern Railway – later becoming part of the Tyneside Electrics network. It closed for conversion in June 1981, ahead of opening as part of the Tyne and WearMetro network. Conversion work saw the station re-located about from the former British Rail station, with the construction of a new station on a bridge over King Street. The original Grade II listed station building, located near to Mile End Road, remained following conversion, but was demolished in the late 1990s. The first Tyne and Wear Metro station was closed inJuly 2019, and re-sited around to the south east. In August 2019, the station re-opened, as part of the new South Shields Interchange., South Shields is the only station to have been closed in the network's -year history. In July 2018, Nexus announced the beginning of work to construct the new £8.4 million Maintenance and Renewals Skills Centre, to the north of the station., the project is still under construction. The station was used by 588,248 passengers in 2017–18, making it the fourteenth-most-used station on the network.
Facilities
Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with two lifts providing step-free access to platforms at South Shields. The station is equipped with ticket machines, sheltered waiting area, seating, next train information displays, timetable posters, and an emergency help point. Ticket machines are able to accept payment with credit and debit card, notes and coins. The station is fitted with automatic ticket barriers, which were installed at 13 stations across the network during the early 2010s, as well as smartcard validators, which feature at all stations. The station houses a bakery and a Nexus TravelShop, both of which are located within the bus concourse. There is no dedicated car parking available at the station, however there are a number of pay and displaycar parks operated by South Tyneside Council located nearby. A taxi rank is located on Keppel Street. There is the provision for cycle parking, with 4 cycle lockers available for use. A large bus interchange is located on the lower level, providing frequent connections in and around South Tyneside and Sunderland.
Service and frequency
South Shields is served by the, which operates between South Shields and St. James with an end-to-end journey time of 83 minutes. Services from platform 1 operate towards St. James via Whitley Bay, with the first train departing at 05:44. Trains run frequently across the network, at intervals of up to every 12 minutes, and every 15 minutes, with the last trains departing at around midnight. Journey times from South Shields are:
South Shields Interchange
South Shields Interchange is located below the Tyne and Wear Metro station. It opened in August 2019, having replaced the former bus station on Keppel Street. It is served by Go North East and Stagecoach North East's local bus services, with frequent routes serving South Tyneside, Sunderland, Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne. The bus station has 14 departure stands, with an additional stand used by long-distance coach services. Each stand is fitted with seating, next bus information displays, and timetable posters. , the stand allocation is:
