West Monkseaton is a

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 ...

station, serving the village of

Earsdon Earsdon is a village in the borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It sits on the border of Northumberland, which it is historically part of, and is approximately two miles from Whitley Bay. The village had a populati ...

and suburb of

Monkseaton Monkseaton is an area of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, in the North East of England. Historically in Northumberland, it is in the north-east of the borough, from the North Sea coast and north of the River Tyne at North Shields. to the north of ...

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 ...

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 joined the network on 11 August 1980, following the opening of the first phase of the network, between Haymarket and Tynemouth via Four Lane Ends.

History

Monkseaton had been served by a station since 1864. However, the development of new housing in the area adjoining the line led the London and North Eastern Railway to construct an additional station, about west along the line from the station at

. The station opened in March 1933, as part of the London and North Eastern Railway, with the station building constructed in

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. The station's platforms took just a month to build after plans were approved. The reinforced concrete

station building is attributed to the London and North Eastern Railway architect, H. H. Powell. Work on the station building, however, did not begin until 1934. Staircases and ramps led down from this building to two timber platforms, both of which featured waiting rooms. The westbound platform featured a concrete canopy, which was added by the London and North Eastern Railway, following the construction of the waiting rooms. Prior to the station's closure for conversion in the late 1970s, the station generally received a service every 20 minutes in both directions, on the Coast Circle route. The service from West Monkseaton to Newcastle via South Gosforth was removed in January 1978, in order to facilitate conversion work on the stations to the west. This meant that the station was briefly a terminus for trains from Newcastle via Tynemouth, with trains reversing using a crossover to the west of the station. The station closed for conversion in September 1979, ahead of opening as part of the

network, re-opening in August 1980. Conversion work saw the loss of the wooden station buildings at platform level, as well as the replacement of the timber platforms with shorter concrete ones. The canopy on the westbound platform (trains towards St. James) was retained, while a smaller canopy in a similar style was added to the eastbound platform (trains towards South Shields). The original street-level entrance building remains, and was refurbished in 1999, along with the original London and North Eastern Railway platform canopy. As part of this refurbishment, an art installation by Richard Talbot, ''Bridge'', was commissioned. It features a number of coloured stained glass windows, and is located in the station's ticket hall, overlooking the track and platforms. West Monkseaton was recently refurbished, along with

Cullercoats Cullercoats is a coastal settlement in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, North East England. Historically in Northumberland, it has now been absorbed into the wider Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth to the ...

and

, in 2018, as part of the ''Metro: All Change'' programme. The refurbishment involved the installation of new seating and lighting, resurfaced platforms, and improved security and accessibility. The station was also painted in to the new black and white corporate colour scheme.

Facilities

Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with ramped access to both platforms. The station is equipped with ticket machines, waiting shelter, seating, next train information displays, timetable posters, and an emergency help point on both platforms. Ticket machines are able to accept payment with credit and debit card (including

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 ...

), notes and coins. The station is also fitted with smartcard validators, which feature at all stations across the network. There is no dedicated car parking available at the station. There is the provision for cycle parking, with three cycle lockers and five cycle pods available for use.

Services

, the station is served by up to five trains per hour on weekdays and Saturday, and up to four trains per hour during the evening and on Sunday. Additional services operate between and at peak times. Rolling stock used: Class 599 ''Metrocar''

References

External links

*
Timetable and station information
for West Monkseaton {{DEFAULTSORT:West Monkseaton Metro station Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside 1933 establishments in England Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1933 1980 establishments in England Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1980 Tyne and Wear Metro Yellow line stations Transport in Tyne and Wear Art Deco architecture in England Former London and North Eastern Railway stations __NOTOC__