Brockley Whins Metro station

Brockley Whins
Brockley Whins station viewed from the front window of a Metro train in 2005
Location
Place	Brockley Whins
Local authority	South Tyneside
Fare zone information
Network One zone	3
Metro zone	B
Original (1979) zone	37
Station code	not known
History
Opened	June 1839
Metro since	2002-03-31
Tyne and Wear Metro List of Tyne and Wear Metro stations

Brockley Whins Metro station is on the Tyne and Wear Metro Green Line. It serves the Brockley Whins area of South Tyneside, England.

The station was formerly served by mainline services between Sunderland and Newcastle Central station but was taken over by the Metro as part of the extension to Sunderland and South Hylton in 2002. Today the services operated by the current franchise holder Northern Rail pass through the station but do not stop. There are also a few freight trains (but most take the line to Tyne Dock which diverges at the west end of the station), and empty Grand Central workings between Heaton depot and Sunderland.

The original Brockley Whins station, on the Brandling Junction Railway, only had a platform on the down line (towards Newcastle). This meant trains towards Sunderland had to cross over onto the opposite track to allow passengers to board and alight. This single line working arrangement resulted in an accident causing five deaths on 6 December 1870 and the building of a second platform originally some distance east of the other, as well as changes to the law. When the station was converted for Metro use, the "down" (westbound) platform was relocated opposite the "up".

For a time, the station was known as Boldon Colliery, but reverted to its original name in the 1990s.

External links

• Train times and station information for Brockley Whins Metro station from Nexus

References

• Report of the Board of Trade enquiry into the 1870 accident.

Preceding station		Tyne and Wear Metro		Following station
Fellgate towards Airport		Green line		East Boldon towards South Hylton