It's not been without its ups and downs though!
I originally used the "all stops" function on the Traveline Journey planner, but after a third of the way though, I came to realise that there were slight discrepancies between these times and the ones that Nexus publishes. I've gone back through and corrected these mistakes, but unfortunately I cannot guarantee that I've caught them all. If there are any errors remaining, which I'm pretty sure there aren't! - they will only be out by one minute. If an error does come up, please do get in touch and I'd be more than happy to upload a corrected version!
I had a bit of bother with the Coast line to St James. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how there could be more than one train at St James Station at the same time. For example, during evenings and Sundays, trains appear to take a 15 minute layover. I thought I had messed the times up and ended up going back through them all again. Had a bit of a revelation though. I had always just assumed that St James had only one platform; but after a search on Flickr, it actually turns out it has two platforms! That certainly explained a lot!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiseman2007/6654556191/ (Anon Mouse - Gary)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25962069@N07/2566894185/ (Bluebottle Flyer - Mark Appleyard) - That's an old photo, been years since the Yellow Line went to South Hylton! Apparently the lines to South Hylton and South Shields were swapped to provide a more even number of stations on each line. So if there was a delay on the rather long Yellow Line, it would affect fewer stations on the route to South Shields than to Sunderland and South Hylton. I seem to remember the first train of the day from Sunderland always having operated direct to Airport anyway. To this day, there are actually a few early morning trips from Regent Centre that run through to South Shields as Yellow Line trains instead of South Hylton. Perhaps it has something to do with the way the trains are stabled at South Gosforth depot, preventing a few trips from starting at Longbenton instead.
Some other interesting things have come up too. During Monday to Saturday daytimes, what should be the xx13 from South Hylton departs at xx12 instead, passing Sunderland at xx22 and Pelaw at xx42. You wouldn't think that one minute would make such a difference, but the Northern Rail service that leaves Sunderland at xx30 arrives at Heworth at xx42, which is the same time as the Metro in front pulls in at Pelaw! It does seem that the Sunderland line is definitely being pushed to its limits in terms of capacity! The timetable I have included doesn't even include the freight trains or the Grand Central empty stock movements between Sunderland and Heaton Train Yard via Newcastle!
On the timetable, I have included every train time during the day, instead of writing the "minutes past each hour," just so the option is there for members to do that if they'd prefer a slighter smaller version, rather than an enthusiast having to write in the full set of times themselves. After all, it's far easier to delete the times than to write them in!
The Northern Rail timetable is only valid until 18 May 2013. It's been rumoured on the Skyscraper City forums that more trains will begin calling
at Blaydon and Dunston. If the demand is there for it, I may include more Northern Rail stations in this timetable when a new timetable comes into force in May.
Keep in mind that this timetable will change on Public Holidays - best to contact Traveline, Nexus or Northern Rail with regards to these days.
