The changing face of our Toon's popular meeting point

WE step out at Newcastle's Haymarket as it was in 1975 - a time when the area was undergoing significant transformation. The building work going on in the centre of our photograph, captured 50 years ago, shows the early stages of the construction of Haymarket Metro station.

- By DAVID MORTON

The Tyne and Wear Metro was a £280 million development which revolutionised public transport in the region.

On Monday, August 11, 1980, the first train on the new system set off from Tynemouth at 5.31am, via Benton, terminating at Haymarket. After initially operating as a terminus, in November 1981, trains began to travel through Haymarket with the opening of the line towards Heworth.

Since then, millions of passengers have used the station located where the top of Northumberland Street meets Percy Street in bustling Newcastle city centre.