Heworth Interchange is a multimodal transport hub consisting of a Tyne and Wear Metro station, National Rail station and bus station, as well as a park and ride facility. The interchange serves the suburb of Heworth, Gateshead and surrounding areas in Tyne and Wear, England. The rail and bus stations opened on 5 November 1979, with the Metro station opening two years later on 15 November 1981. The new Heworth rail station took over the role of the former and railway stations, which closed on the same day as its opening, to allow them to be converted into Metro stations. The National Rail and Metro routes have separate tracks at this point, but share the same alignment of what was originally the Brandling Junction Railway and now forms part of the Durham Coast Line.
Metro station
Heworth Metro Station opened on 15 November 1981, as part of the third phase of the network, between and Heworth.
History The Tyne and Wear Metro station opened over two years after the adjacent rail station, serving as a replacement for former rail stations at and , which were closed on 5 November 1979, ahead of conversion work for the Tyne and Wear Metro network.
Initially, Heworth was a terminus station; trains reversed in the platforms, using the crossovers to the west of the station in passenger service. Later on, reversals took place at the new sidings at Pelaw, once they were completed.
On 24 March 1984, the network was further extended south to , with the station opening to through services. The following year, on 15 September 1985, re-opened as an intermediate station.
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 Heworth. As part of the Metro: All Change programme, new lifts were installed at Heworth in 2012, with new escalators installed in 2015.
The station is equipped with ticket machines, seating, next train information displays, timetable posters, and an emergency help point on both platforms. The ticket machines accept credit and debit cards (including contactless payment), 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 building houses a coffee kiosk and newsagent's shop in the ticket hall.
The Metro station was used by 1.744 million passengers in 2024/25. slightly lower than the pre-pandemic figure of 1.817 million in 2017/18.
Services , the station is served by up to ten trains per hourfive trains in each direction on both of the Yellow and Green lineson weekdays and Saturdays, and up to eight trains per hour during the evening and on Sundays. In the northbound direction, half the trains run to and half to via . In the southbound direction, half the trains run to and half to via .
Artwork There are two art installations at Heworth. The first, South Tyne Eye Plan (1990) by Mike Clay, is located on the station concourse, and represents the area of Heworth and Felling between 1988 and 1990 in the form of a "continuous unwinding scroll".
The second, Things Made (1990) by Jenny Cowern, is located on the south and west outer walls of the station building, and is made up of 29 large panels, each of which represent industries that have operated in the area, such as coal mining, glass making, textiles and shipbuilding.
National Rail station
Heworth is on the Durham Coast Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated south-east of Newcastle, is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.
History The station opened on 5 November 1979, replacing the nearby and stations, which closed the same day, ahead of their conversion to Tyne and Wear Metro. Before this, passenger trains ran on the southern pair of tracks, which are now used by Metro.
The railway line is part of what was originally the Brandling Junction Railway and now forms part of the Durham Coast Line. Heworth station sits west of Pelaw Junction, where heavy rail and light rail services operate separately. Heading east of the junction, heavy and light rail services share the line, implementing the Karlsruhe model for a distance of , as far as Sunderland South Junction.
The National Rail station recorded 45,528 passengers in 2024/2025. This makes it the least used National Rail station in Tyne and Wear.
Facilities The station has two platforms, only one of which has a ticket machine (which accepts card or contactless payment only), seating and an emergency help point. Additionally, there is a waiting shelter on the Middlesbrough-bound platform. There is step-free access to both platforms, which are linked by ramp and road bridge.
Services
timetable change, Heworth is served by an hourly service, running between and via , calling at all National Rail stations en route. On Sundays, there is an hourly service between Newcastle Central and Middlesbrough, with a couple of trains extended to/from Nunthorpe or . All services are operated by Northern.
The December 2025 timetable reshaped regional services, to improve reliability by reducing the number of routes passing through Newcastle. The service between and Middlesbrough was increased to run hourly, but now operates as limited-stop on the Durham Coast Line and no longer calls at Heworth. The Nunthorpe to service was cut back to Newcastle, meaning there is no longer a regular service between Heworth and or other stations on the Tyne Valley Line.
Bus station Heworth Bus Station opened in November 1979, along with the British Rail station. It is located above the four platforms and bordered by Sunderland Road and the A184. It is served mainly by local Go North East and Nexus-contracted bus services, with frequent buses serving Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, South Tyneside and Washington. It is also served by some regional Go North East buses to Stockton and Middlesbrough.
The bus station has eight departure stands (lettered A–F plus R and X), each of which is fitted with a waiting shelter, seating, next-bus information displays, and timetable posters. It was refurbished in November 2012, at a cost of £200,000.
There are also several bus layover areas.
, the stand allocation is: StandRouteDestinationA51Gateshead Interchange 57Newcastle Market Street58Newcastle Market Street58ANewcastle Market StreetB52Gateshead Interchange 92Team Valley Royal Mail 93Gateshead Interchange 94Gateshead Interchange 515Queen Elizabeth Hospital C27South Shields Interchange 515Hebburn 568Lakes Estate CircularD57Wardley58AWardley558Seaburn Dene EstateX10Middlesbrough E4Houghton-le-Spring 58Follingsby Park Amazon WarehouseX58Follingsby Park Amazon WarehouseF27Newcastle Market StreetX58Newcastle Market StreetX10Newcastle Eldon Square RX
Notes for bus services
Shared facilities
Parking The interchange has a park and ride facility with both short-stay and long-stay car parks. The short-stay car park to the south is a paid facility with a four-hour maximum stay, containing 70 spaces . The long-stay car park to the north is a paid facility with a seven-day maximum stay, containing 390 spaces and four EV charging spaces.
Bicycles The station has 25 bicycle stands located in a covered area of the Metro station building.
Taxi rank There is a taxi rank located in the bus station.
Gallery
Notes
References
External links
Timetable and station information for Heworth Interchange from Travel North East
Map of the local area, showing bus stop locations Bus routes serving Heworth Interchange