Newcastle, United Kingdom - October 24, 2024

For the first time in years, all three historic roofline clocks at Newcastle station are ticking in perfect harmony. Specialist teams worked over the past three nights to restore the iconic timepieces, installing new mechanisms and modern LED backlighting to bring them back to life.

The £21,000 restoration, funded by Network Rail and a Railway Heritage Trust grant, replaced the outdated clock workings, which had suffered water damage after 30 to 50 years in service. Heritage clockmakers Smiths of Derby carefully installed the new mechanisms 16 meters above the ground, using a high-level platform to repair each of the station’s prominent clocks.

The repairs concluded just after 4:30 a.m. on October 24, with the synchronized clocks coming into commission by 4:45 a.m. The overhaul marks a return to reliability for the North East’s busiest station, where time had seemingly stood still for too long.

Rob Preston, Network Rail’s Works Delivery manager, acknowledged the frustration of passengers and passersby during the delays, assuring the public that the newly refurbished clocks will now keep accurate time for years to come. LNER’s Carl Howarth echoed the sentiment, highlighting the importance of the clocks as key features of the station's heritage and their significance in railway history.

The clocks, installed in 1893, have a storied past, including the mysterious disappearance of the original Eastern facade clock in the 1970s. Now, with the restoration complete, Newcastle's timekeepers are once again running, like clockwork.