West Gosforth was a railway station on the

Ponteland Railway The Ponteland Railway was a single-track branch line, which linked Gosforth in Tyne and Wear with Ponteland in Northumberland. A sub-branch line also ran between Ponteland and Darras Hall. The branch line between South Gosforth and Ponteland ...

, which ran between

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 ...

and Ponteland, with a sub-branch line to Darras Hall. The station served

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 ...

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 ...

. The station was opened on 1 June 1905, by the North Eastern Railway. It was situated near to the junction of the Great North Road (B1318) and Hollywood Avenue. A signal box was located on the down platform, with access to a small goods shed at the back of the platform.

History

The Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway was formed in 1899, under the Light Railways Act of 1896. Construction of the line by the North Eastern Railway was authorised by

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in February 1901. In March 1905, the 7-mile section from

to Ponteland was opened to goods traffic, with passenger services commencing in June 1905. A 1¹⁄4-mile extension of the branch line to the garden city of Darras Hall in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, known as the Little Callerton Railway, was authorised in 1909. Unlike the Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway, the extension was not constructed as a light railway. Passenger services commenced between Ponteland and Darras Hall in October 1913. In 1922, the branch line was served by six weekday passenger trains, with an additional train running on Saturday. Only three trains ran through to Darras Hall. As a result of poor passenger numbers, the station, along with the branch line closed to passengers on 17 June 1929. It remained open for goods traffic, although the station at West Gosforth was downgraded to a public delivery siding on 23 August 1954, before closing altogether on 14 August 1967.

Tyne and Wear Metro

In May 1981, a section of the former branch line was reopened in stages between

and Bank Foot, as part of the Tyne and Wear Metro network. The current station at Regent Centre is situated near to the site of the former at West Gosforth.

References

External links

{{s-end Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1905 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1929 1905 establishments in England 1967 disestablishments in England