South Gosforth Traction Maintenance Depot is a vehicle cleaning, maintenance and stabling facility used by the

Tyne and Wear Metro The Tyne and Wear Metro is an overground and underground light rail rapid transit system serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, and the City of Sunderland (together forming Tyne and Wear). The network opened in ...

. It was originally constructed for the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

, opening in October 1923.

History

The line passing through the depot was opened on 1 March 1905 by the Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway. The branch line consisted of a single-track, running from

South Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of New ...

, Tyne and Wear to

Ponteland Ponteland ( ) is a large village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name means "island in the Pont", after the River Pont which flows from west to east and joins the River Blyth further downstream, be ...

and

Darras Hall Darras Hall is an upland housing estate located in the village of Ponteland. It is on the southwestern outskirts of the village, northwest of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is generally regarded as the most expensive and exclusive place to live in the ...

, Northumberland. The line closed to passengers on 17 June 1929, but was re-opened as part of the Tyne and Wear Metro network, as far as Bank Foot on 10 May 1981, with a further extension to

Newcastle Airport Newcastle or New Castle Airport may refer to: * Newcastle International Airport, an airport in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK ** Newcastle Airport metro station, the Tyne and Wear metro station serving the airport * Newcastle Airport (Nevis), no ...

opening on 17 November 1991. In 1918, a fire broke out at Heaton car sheds, which destroyed the building, as well as 34 cars. This led to a replacement depot being required. The site of the depot was acquired by the North Eastern Railway in 1921, with the replacement depot opening in October 1923. At the time, there was 10 lines in the depot building, with a further two serving the repair shop. The depot was originally used to house rolling stock for the ''

Tyneside Electrics The Tyneside Electrics were the suburban railways on Tyneside that the North Eastern Railway and the London and North Eastern Railway electrified using the third rail system. The North Tyneside Loop was electrified from 1904 onwards and formed o ...

'' network, which served

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, as well as

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the nor ...

. The network was later converted back to diesel operation in the 1960s. Prior to the opening of the Tyne and Wear Metro network in the early 1980s, Class 101, 104 and 105 DMUs were a common sight at the depot. These vehicles were used on the

North Tyneside Loop The North Tyneside Loop refers to the railway lines in North Tyneside from Newcastle upon Tyne via Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay, Backworth, Benton and South Gosforth back to Newcastle. Since the 1980s, it has formed part of the Tyne and ...

, as well as services between

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

Tyne and Wear Metro

Since 1980, the depot has been operated by the

, and now houses a fleet of 87 Class 599 ''Metrocars''. It is used for stabling, cleaning, maintenance and repair of the fleet. It is located between

Longbenton Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, England. It is largely occupied by an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1930s and extended in the 1950s. It is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro st ...

Regent Centre Regent Centre is a large business park in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The business park is home to a variety of companies, including banking group Virgin Money whose Head Office is located on the site. The centre has its own transport ...

and

stations, and can be accessed by trains from both east and west. There is also a depot-avoiding line running from east to west, which is not regularly used in public service. Prior to the arrival of new

Stadler Rail Stadler Rail is a Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, with an emphasis on regional train multiple units and trams. It is also focused on niche products, such as being one of the last European manufacturers of rack railway rolling stock ...

rolling stock towards the end of 2021, a satellite depot has been being constructed near

Howdon Howdon is a largely residential area in the eastern part of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. It consists of High Howdon and the smaller settlement of East Howdon. Much of the High Howdon area was formerly called Willington prior to post-World W ...

North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered b ...

. The site is currently being used as a temporary stabling and maintenance facility for up to 10 ''Metrocars'', whilst the current depot at Gosforth is re-built. It opened in October 2020. The first phase of demolition of the South Gosforth depot was completed by May 2021. The planned date for completion of the demolition is 2023. The old South Gorforth Depot closed on 19 January 2023.

References

External links

* {{Tyne and Wear Metro network Railway depots in England Transport infrastructure completed in 1923 Tyne and Wear Metro 1923 establishments in England