The former Wickham Railway Station is set to be deconstucted later this month in order to make way for a new light rail depot.
Once complete, the depot will be used for the overnight stabling of light rail vehicles and for the completion of basic fleet maintenance work.
The depot's proposed design is described as being sleek and contemporary, falling in line with efforts to modernise inner-city Newcastle.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald, says deconstruction of the Wickham Station will begin "almost immediately," whilst it is yet unclear when construction of the new depot will be complete.
"I'm not sure of the completion date, but we're still looking forward to light rail being underway in early 2019...we'll see work start very soon and we'll see progress through 2018 and completion towards the end of 2018."
The removal of Wickham Station was considered during the community consultation process for the Newcastle Light Rail Review of Environmental Factors. Confirmation of the station's removal was made in August last year, following community feedback provided in April 2016.
Scott MacDonald says the plans fall in line with community desires."I think people are very much on board now with the light rail, it was a difficult thing to conceive of a couple of years ago, but I think most people now are very keen to see the thing underway.
"There was commentary around some of the historical points of it...so yeah, I think that gave us an impetus to show respect to some of those heritage values."
As a result of this commentary, Wickham Station's original ticket window and signal box equipment will be preserved and stored, with archival station material to be made available at Newcastle City Council Library.
 |
| Image source: Revitalising Newcastle |
 |
| Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald |
