Heaton Lib Dems call for NEXUS to improve Chillingham Road station (Greg Stone)

Heaton Lib Dems call for NEXUS to improve Chillingham Road station

March 15, 2007 9:02 PM

Chillingham Road Metro

Liberal Democrat campaigners in Heaton have urged NEXUS to include Chillingham Road metro station in its bid to Government to reinvigorate the network's infrastructure over the next twenty years.

North Heaton councillor Greg Stone, a member of the Tyne & Wear Passenger Transport Authority, South Heaton councillor Karen Robinson, and South Heaton campaigner Henry Gallagher have joined forces to call for action to improve the station, which they claim is unwelcoming to users and a safety risk after dark.

Karen and Henry said "We hope that the Metro bid is successful, and if so, we would like to see an upgrade to Chillingham Road to make it far more user-friendly than it is now. It looks rather dingy by day and is a bleak and threatening place to be after dark. Local people, especially women, have told us they will not use it at night because they don't feel safe. We would like to see it improved significantly as part of efforts to regenerate the Fossway area and Siemens site."

Greg said "Although the station is not in my ward, it is the nearest stop on the network for many residents of North Heaton and more people would use the service if the station was improved. Plans to upgrade Heworth and North Shields stations have been announced in NEXUS's 15-year plan. The condition of the station in 15 years time if investment is not forthcoming does not bear thinking about".