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It has been announced that Grand Central are running extra Sunderland trains non-stop from Sunderland to KX for the cup final next week. Apparently they will be hired from another operator. Any idea what they will be and where they are coming from?

I recently stumbled on a bit of footage of the Sunderland Station refurb which took place in 2001. In my opinion they completely wrecked the station when they put the roof on, it's a drab awful place after the refurb. I forgot quite how pleasant it was before hand. I know we have a few fellow...

When Arriva secured the Northern franchise part of their plans included half hourly services down the Durham Coast Line between Newcastle and Middlesborough. These were due to begin in December 2018. As far as I'm aware these are yet to begin and it's all gone a bit quiet. Do we have any news...

It’s been a complete shambles for GC recently. Surely they knew the history of the 180s and their constant reliability issues? They have turned a TOC which was one of the best into a total laughing stock.

Funnily enough I’ve stumbled upon a photo of the old hidden platform. Looks very serviceable, still can’t understand why they didn’t put the Metro onto it.

The Luftwaffe may have started the demolition but 'forward thinking' 60s planners more than finished the job. The building is an absolute disgrace and the 2002 refurbishment just made things even worse. I really don't know what they were thinking. I don't think the current station can ever...

It's about time, the place is a disgrace. Even with improvements the station is still one of the worst on the network. It would be better to rip it down and start again.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/freight-train-derailed-live-major-14165396 Looks like we've seen massive disruption today, including GC and Northern services. They have been diverting via Darlington.

Totally agree, the re-signalling has helped but in theory we should be using the Durham Coast line a hell of a lot more. The Metro north of Sunderland taking up so many paths really doesn't make things easy for trains that want to use it as an ECML diversion.

Not much chance of Leamside reopening anytime soon, most of the line is gone now and the infrastructure has been smashed to pieces. The problem we have at the minute is that the port seems to be trying to attract ships connected to the offshore industry, gas, oil and wind. Not much call for...

That machine is awful, you're right! It's been in for years and has always been utterly useless and the staff in the office are the most unhelpful I've ever encountered. There are plans to refurbish the upper concourse (at some point, it's been promised for years) but hopefully that will see...

It seems to be more aimed at road transport going into the port though. It's a massive shame but the lines just don't go near enough to Nissan to make Rail Transport to any port worth it. Has anyone heard if the shunters are ever going to be returned or are they staying at Bowes?

That's really interesting! Personally I find the set up at Sunderland to be totally inappropriate, especially now that we have London service from GC and VTEC using the station which fill the entire length of the platform. The designers back in 2002 really didn't think ahead.

Did we have Red Star services using that platform? I remember the Red Star depot at the top of the station but wasn't sure if it used the other platform.

A massive shame that it hasn't been too successful so far. I don't think it's being marketed particularly well though. The Port has had some problems with its cranes recently and the shunters are no longer on site. A lot of stone, gypsum and wood pulp passes through Sunderland so the market...

Probably one for local people this. When built, Sunderland had four platforms based on two islands. In the 1960s the four tracks were taken to two and passenger services were concentrated on one platform. but the other platform was still very much visible. In 2002 the station was reconstructed...

I'm glad I wasn't just going mad, I knew I had seen signage. I seem to remember that it was removed from Newcastle in about 2002, so quite late really. I've desperately been trying to search for photos of the signage and lounges but can't seem to find anything at all. Its a shame that Regional...

As a lad I remember Eurostar signage being installed at Newcastle Station in the mid 90s. Even as an 8 year old this confused me but I have since read that Eurostar lounges and other things were installed at certain stations on the network. Can anyone recall this and does any evidence of these...

It seems that GC are trying to run things on a bit of a shoestring at the minute. It'll still be a shame to see the HSTs go though.

The problem seems to have been going on for a number of weeks now with no solution. Not good for a company that usually has a great reputation.