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. The network opened in stages from August 1980 and now serves a total of 60 stations, with two lines covering 77.5 km (48.2 mi) of track. The Metro can be accessed from a mixture of under ground and above ground stations. It has been described as the "first modern light rail system in the United Kingdom". The system is currently owned and operated by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Executive, thus is fully under public ownership and operation.
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broadly parallel to the A1 road.
Newcastle Central Station is a major railway station in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the East Coast Main Line, around 268 miles (432 km) north of London King's Cross. It is the primary national rail station serving Newcastle upon Tyne, with local rail services provided by the Tyne and Wear Metro network to which the station is connected to by Central Station Metro station, situated beneath the national rail station.
The West London line is a short railway in inner West London that links Clapham Junction in the south to Willesden Junction in the north. The line has always been an important cross-London link especially for freight services. Southern and London Overground provide regular passenger services; detailed below.
The Durham Coast Line is an approximately 39.5-mile (63.6 km) railway line running between Newcastle and Middlesbrough in North East England. Heavy rail passenger services, predominantly operated Northern Trains, and some freight services operate over the whole length of the line; it provides an important diversionary route at times when the East Coast Main Line is closed. Light rail services of the Tyne and Wear Metro's Green Line also operate over the same tracks between a junction just south of Sunderland station and Pelaw Junction.
The Leamside Line, originally part of the Durham Junction Railway, is a disused railway line, located in the North East of England. The alignment diverges from the East Coast Main Line at Tursdale Junction, travelling a distance of 21 miles north through the Durham Coalfield and Washington, prior to joining the Durham Coast Line at Pelaw Junction. The Leamside Line closed to passenger traffic in 1964, under the Beeching cuts.
Chichester is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro serving the Chichester, Laygate, Westoe and West Park areas of South Tyneside, as well as the nearby South Tyneside College campus. The station is affectionately referred to as 'Chi' by locals.
Sunderland is a railway station on the Durham Coast Line, which runs between Newcastle and Middlesbrough via Hartlepool. The station, situated 12 miles 15 chains (19.6 km) south-east of Newcastle, serves the port city of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. Since 31 March 2002, the station has also been served by the Tyne and Wear Metro.
Heaton is a district and suburb in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 2 miles (3 km) east of the city centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Walkergate to the east, Jesmond to the north west, Byker to the south, and Sandyford to the west. The name Heaton means high town, referring to the area "being situated on hills above the Ouseburn, a tributary of the River Tyne." The area is divided into South Heaton, and High Heaton, representing the north, respectively. For city council elections, the area is split between three wards: Heaton, Manor Park and Ouseburn.
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 one of the earliest suburban electric networks; the South Tyneside line to South Shields via Pelaw was electrified in March 1938. British Railways converted these lines to diesel operation in the 1960s: the line to South Shields in January 1963 and the North Tyneside lines in June 1967 when the electrical supply infrastructure and the rolling stock had become life expired. In addition, the system was losing passengers and suffering from costly vandalism. Since the late 1970s, much of the system has been converted to form the Tyne and Wear Metro.
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 Wear Metro, albeit in modified form.
The Newcastle & North Shields Railway opened in June 1839 from a temporary terminus in Carliol Square in Newcastle upon Tyne to North Shields. The railway was absorbed by the Newcastle & Berwick Railway in November 1844. The Newcastle & Berwick Railway was itself absorbed by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, and this became part of the North Eastern Railway in 1854.
The Blyth and Tyne Railway was a railway company in Northumberland, England. It was incorporated in 1853 to unify several private railways and waggonways that were concerned with bringing coal from the Northumberland coalfield to Blyth and to the River Tyne. Over the years, it expanded its network to include Ashington, Morpeth and Tynemouth. As coal output increased, the company became very prosperous in hauling the mineral to quays for export and, in addition, a residential passenger service based on Newcastle built up.
Manors is a railway station on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley. The station serves the Quayside and Shieldfield areas of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains. The Metro station of the same name is not directly connected, and located a short walk away.
South Shields railway station was the main railway station for South Shields, in Tyne and Wear, North-East England. The station was located on Mile End Road in the town centre. The station was opened by the NER in 1879 as the terminus of their newly extended Newcastle and South Shields Railway branch from Pelaw via Hebburn and had two platforms and an ornate overall roof.
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan area covering the cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, as well as North and South Tyneside, Gateshead and Washington.
The Riverside Branch was a 6+1⁄2-mile (10.5 km) double-track branch line, which ran between Riverside Junction in Heaton and Percy Main West Junction in Percy Main.
Elswick railway station was a railway station in the Elswick area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was located on the former route of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway from Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle. The station opened in 1889 and closed in 1967.
The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR) was an English railway company formed in 1847 by the amalgamation of the York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. Both companies were part of the group of business interests controlled by George Hudson, the so-called Railway King. In collaboration with the York and North Midland Railway and other lines he controlled, he planned that the YN&BR would form the major part of a continuous railway between London and Edinburgh. At this stage the London terminal was Euston Square and the route was through Normanton. This was the genesis of the East Coast Main Line, but much remained to be done before the present-day route was formed, and the London terminus was altered to King's Cross.
Byker was a railway station on the Riverside Branch, which ran between Byker and Willington Quay. The station served Byker in Newcastle upon Tyne.
