Metro passengers have voted in their thousands and have chosen a vibrant light blue colour scheme for the new-look Central Station in Newcastle.
More than 5,000 people voted after Nexus gave passengers a chance to have their say on the new colour scheme.
Nexus, which owns, manages and is modernising Metro in a £389m programme, shortlisted a choice of six different colours for Central Station.
Passengers were able to vote at the station and online. After a week of voting the light blue option has proved the most popular with 1,485 votes, just ahead of pink in second place on 1,005 votes. A total of 5,161 votes were cast.
The winning light blue colour will be used on ‘feature walls’ on a predominantly white interior throughout the busy city centre gateway, which is used by more than five million people a year.
Director of Rail and Infrastructure for Nexus, Raymond Johnstone, said: “It’s great that so many passengers took time to vote for this vibrant new colour scheme at Central Station.
“Getting the input of our customers was a great idea and it has helped us to create a distinctive new look for this important city centre gateway.
“Light blue was the clear winner and this will now be used as part of the modernisation programme that we have planned at Central in the coming year.”
The ‘station colours’ vote is believed to be the first time passengers have been given such a direct say in the look of a major station.
Nexus staff were at Central over three days last week offering passengers a chance to vote by dropping counters into clear plastic ‘ballot boxes’, letting them see the state of poll as it went along.
Votes were also counted via the Nexus website and the Tyne and Wear Metro Facebook page and 'My_Metro' Twitter feed.
The Refurbishment of Central Station is due to begin in the autumn to provide improvements to accessibility, information and waiting facilities as well as giving the station a bright new look.
Central Station will be the 18th station to be fully refurbished by Nexus since 2009, as part of the Metro: all change modernisation programme.
The work has been timed to follow the refurbishment of the connected national rail station by East Coast and the remodelling of surrounding streets by Newcastle City Council.
Like Haymarket, rebuilt in 2009, Central Station will feature a predominantly white interior with feature walls picked out in a feature colour, helping assist passenger navigation.
Nexus shortlisted the six colours from a palate originally put together by artist Lothar Goetz for Haymarket. The range included a bright green, two shades of blue, plum, pink, and orange.
Full details of the voting are available here, or by clicking on the document below.