A multimillion-pound transport interchange at Park Lane was opened on 2 May 1999 by the then "Brookside" actor Michael Starke. With 750,000 passengers per year it is the busiest bus and coach station in Britain after Victoria Station in Central London, and has won several design awards. A new Metro station was built underneath the bus concourse to provide a direct interchange as part of the extension to South Hylton in 2002.