Sunderland Station extends opening hours after closure fury

Transport North East and Metro operator Nexus had said the station's closure would affect city Christmas trade

A station set to be shut in the run-up to Christmas sparking outrage will be open longer, operators say.

After initially saying Sunderland Station would shut every day apart from Tuesday, Northern later said it would be open all days except Christmas Eve.

Now the firm says the station used by rail and Metro services will be open until 14:45 GMT on Christmas Eve.

Transport bosses welcomed the changes but said "major damage" had been done reputationally.

Northern said the station would be closed due to the impact of strike action on staff numbers, with the subsurface station needing two suitably-trained staff on duty to assist in the event of an evacuation.

A spokesman for the firm said gaps had been filled meaning Christmas Eve morning was "covered" until 14:45 when the last Grand Central and Northern services are due to come through.

'Government review'

The closure was condemned by Transport North East and council leaders who said it would affect trade in Sunderland city centre.

The updated timetable was welcomed by Martin Gannon, chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee and leader of Gateshead Council, and Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council and chairman of the North East Combined Authority.

In a joint statement they said: "We welcome the news that, following pressure by ourselves and by Sunderland's MPs, the level of closure of Sunderland station over the Christmas period has been reduced.

"However the situation remains far from perfect and major damage has been done to the public's perception of rail services in the city."

They also said they would ask the government's rail minister to "review what has happened and to fix it".