Sunderland station made 'fit for purpose' by £27m revamp

The new glass-fronted southern entrance to Sunderland railway station

A revamp of Sunderland railway station should prove to be an "economic win" for the city, council bosses have said.

It has taken two years to create a new glassed front southern entrance, which will house a ticket office, reception area and extra retail space.

The project has cost about £27m so far and it is hoped the changes will be completed by the autumn.

Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland Council, said the city needed a railway station that was "fit for purpose".

He added: "If [the city] wants to be welcoming to visitors, to the business community and visitors it needs to have a railway station worthy of the name.

"The railway station entranceway that was here and in the northern entrance were just not good quality and fit for purpose."

It is hoped the changes will form part of a bigger revamp of the railway station, if a further £73m can be raised by the government, the city council and train operators to fund it.

When completed by autumn the new entrance will house a ticket office, reception area and retail space

Mr Miller said: "We have four railways lines down there, two of them are hidden but if we can open them up - which is what we want to do, so we can use two exclusively for the Metro and two for rail - it will enable us to have a longer platform so bigger trains can come to Sunderland.

"So it's an economic win and a win for getting people out of their cars and that helps with our green credentials."

Sam Smith, manager of a photo printing shop opposite the new entrance, says she expects the changes will attract a "massive influx" of customers.

She said: "I know we'll get a lot of interest as soon as it opens, as people are already asking us about that and as we're opposite the new entrance we hope to get extra footfall."

It is hoped future work at the station could see the current underground platforms extended