Blaydon is a railway station on the Tyne Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated west of Newcastle, serves the town of Blaydon, Gateshead in

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

, England. It is owned by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...

History

The

Newcastle and Carlisle Railway The Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (N&CR) was an English railway company formed in 1825 that built a line from Newcastle upon Tyne on Britain's east coast, to Carlisle, on the west coast. The railway began operating mineral trains in 1834 between ...

was formed in 1829, and was opened in stages. The station opened in March 1835, following the commencement of passenger trains between Blaydon and . Initially serving as the line's eastern terminus, through services to Redheugh began in March 1837. A second cross-river line, operating over the

Scotswood Bridge Scotswood Bridge is one of the main bridges crossing the River Tyne in North East England. It links the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank of the river with the MetroCentre (shopping centre), MetroCentre and Blaydon in Gateshead ...

to a temporary terminus near the site of was opened in 1839, diverging immediately east of the station. It was not until January 1851 that Newcastle Central would be accessible using this route. The station was enlarged on the opening of the Derwent Valley Railway in 1867, with Blaydon Junction opening to its east; this enabled trains to run to Blackhill, and . This line closed to passengers in the 1950s, before fully closing in November 1963. Blaydon was substantially rebuilt in 1912, with new red brick station buildings and glass canopies. In 1969, the station became an unstaffed halt, and the canopies were removed. The station buildings were demolished in 1977, due to neglect and persistent vandalism. Service levels were also infrequent for many years, with only a small number of services calling at peak times. Since 2013 however, the timetable has been upgraded and more trains now call (with a consequent improvement in usage, as can be seen in the statistics) Services over

were withdrawn on 4 October 1982, with the line re-routed through Dunston and across the

King Edward VII Bridge The King Edward VII Bridge is a railway bridge spanning the River Tyne between Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, in North East England. It is a Grade II listed structure. The King Edward VII bridge has been described as “Britain’s last ...

, using part of the original 1837 route, which had since only been used by freight. Few traces of the former line now remain, though the position of the station signal box gives a clue as to the old alignment.

Facilities

The station has two platforms, both of which have a ticket machine (which accepts card or

contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards, or other devices, including smartphones and other mobile devices, that use radio-frequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC, e.g. Samsung ...

only), seating, waiting shelter, next train audio and visual displays and an emergency help point. There is step-free access to both platforms, with platforms also linked by a footbridge. There is a small car park and cycle storage at the station. Blaydon is part of the Northern Trains

penalty fare A penalty fare, standard fare, or fixed penalty notice is a special, usually higher, fare charged because a passenger using public transport did not comply with the normal ticket purchasing rules. It should not be confused with an unpaid fares n ...

network, meaning that a valid ticket or promise to pay notice is required prior to boarding the train.

Services

As of the December 2021 timetable change, there is an hourly service between and (or Carlisle on Sunday), with additional trains at peak times. Most trains extend to or via . All services are operated by

. Rolling stock used: Class 156 ''Super Sprinter'' and Class 158 ''Express Sprinter''

References

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Railway stations in Tyne and Wear DfT Category F2 stations Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1835 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1967 Northern franchise railway stations