LNER To Support NHS With North East Vaccine Roll-Out

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is proud to confirm it will be making more than 370 free car parking spaces available for people attending the NHS Covid-19 vaccine clinic at Newcastle’s Life Science Centre.

From Monday 18 January, LNER will offer spaces at Newcastle Central Station’s long-stay car park free of charge to people invited to receive the vaccine being administered at the city centre location.

A number of spaces have also been made available for NHS staff and members of the vaccination team currently helping with the vaccine roll out.

David Horne, LNER Managing Director, said: “Since the outbreak of the pandemic we have been working hard to support communities along our route, as well as working to keep our customers and colleagues safe.

“As Newcastle has a major vaccination centre on the LNER route, we are offering free car parking at Newcastle Central Station’s long stay car park to make it as easy as possible for people attending the vaccination centre.”

The venue in Newcastle’s science village is one of seven large vaccination centres that opened earlier this month as part of the nationwide vaccination programme. The Newcastle site covers the vaccine roll-out across the North East of England and North Cumbria. Nurses, doctors, pharmacists and other NHS staff working nearby are also being vaccinated along with social care and care home workers.

Invitation letters are currently being delivered to people aged 80 or over, who live within 45 minutes from the new centre which explain how they can book an appointment.

Professor Neil Watson, Chief Operating Officer for Covid-19 Vaccination Programme for the North East and North Cumbria, said: “This is a really generous offer from LNER and will make it easier for people to get to the centre for their appointments.

“But we are reminding people if they receive an invite from the national booking service with an appointment for the Centre for Life they can, if they prefer, wait and go to their GP practice for their vaccination. It is likely their invite will arrive from their GP very soon. There’s enough vaccine for everyone who wants one, so they don’t need to worry about making a trip to Newcastle if they are happy to wait until their GP contacts them.

“If they have received an invitation to be vaccinated already from their GP practice, we are asking them to keep this appointment rather than go to the Centre for Life. It will not be possible to get a vaccine at a Vaccination Centre without an appointment.”

People are being urged to attend their appointment just a few minutes ahead of their allocated time to ensure queues are minimised outside the building.

Anyone who uses the barrier-controlled car park will be given a ticket on entering. This ticket will be exchanged when checking-in at the Centre for Life for a ticket that will allow people to exit the car park free of charge.

The LNER secure long-stay car park at Newcastle Central Station includes 374 spaces with 13 accessible bays and is a short walk along Neville Street to the Centre for Life at Times Square.