Millfield is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Millfield and Sunderland Royal Hospital in Sunderland. The station joined the network in March 2002, following the opening of the extension from Pelaw to South Hylton. The current station is located on the site of the first Millfield station, to the south east of Hylton Road. The station opened in June 1853, before being closed, and re-sited to the north west of Hylton Road in around 1890. The second station closed inMay 1955, ahead of the closure of other nearby stations, with Pallion and Hylton closing in May 1964, following the Beeching Axe. Goods facilities remained at Millfield until the late 1970s. Between Millfield and Pallion, it was necessary for the Tyne and Wear Metro route to deviate from the original alignment, owing to the construction of a road. A new trackbed was cut in to a steep slope, and extensively retained with piling, along with the construction of a new road bridge. Along with other stations on the line between Fellgate and South Hylton, the station is fitted with vitreous enamel panels designed by artist, Morag Morrison. Each station uses a different arrangement of colours, with strong colours used in platform shelters and ticketing areas, and a more neutral palate for external elements. The station was used by 203,654 passengers in 2017–18, making it the third-least-used station on the Wearside extension, after Pallion and St. Peter's.
Facilities
Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with ramped access to both platforms at Millfield. The station is equipped with ticket machines, waiting shelter, seating, next train information displays, timetable posters, and an emergency help point on both platforms. Ticket machines are able to accept payment with credit and debit card, notes and coins. The station is also fitted with smartcard validators, which feature at all stations across the network. There is car parking available, with 12 on-street parking bays located off Hylton Road, as well as 2 accessible parking spaces. There is also the provision for cycle parking, with 4 cycle pods available for use.
Service and frequency
Millfield is served by the, which operates between South Hylton and Airport, with an end-to-end journey time of 64 minutes. Services from platform 1 operate towards South Hylton, with the first train departing at 05:50. Services from platform 2 operate towards Airport, with the first train departing at 06:06. Trains run frequently across the network, at intervals of up to every 12 minutes, and every 15 minutes, with the last trains departing at around midnight. Journey times from Millfield are:
