Hull Paragon Interchange

Kingston upon Hull, United Kingdom

Hull Paragon Interchange is an integrated rail and bus station in the city centre of Kingston upon Hull, England. The G.T. Andrews designed Paragon Station and the adjoining Station Hotel opened in 1847 as the new Hull terminus for the growing traffic of the York and North Midland leased to the Hull and Selby Railway (H&S). As well as trains to the west the station was the terminus of the Y&NMR and H&S railway's Hull to Scarborough Line. From the 1860s the station also became the terminus of the Hull and Holderness and Hull and Hornsea railways. At the beginning of the 20th century the North Eastern Railway (NER) expanded the trainshed and station to the designs William Bell, installing the present five arched span platform roof. In 1962 a modernist office block Paragon House was installed above the station main entrance, replacing a 1900s iron canopy; the offices were initially used as regional headquarters for British Rail. A bus station was erected adjacent to the north of the station in the mid 1930s. In the early 2000s plans for an integrated bus and rail station were made, as part of a larger development including a shopping centre; St Stephen's shopping centre, a hotel, housing, and music and theatre facilities. The new station, named "Paragon Interchange" opened in September 2007, integrating the city's railway and bus stations under William Bell's 1900s trainshed. As of October 2016, the rail station is operated by TransPennine Express, which provides train services along with Northern, Hull Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast. The station will once again be given a revamp ahead of Hull's City of Culture year in 2017, with a £1.4 million investment providing a new waiting area and more retail units amongst other general improvements.