Kenton Bank railway station

Kenton Bank
The site of the station in 2010
General information
LocationKenton, Newcastle upon Tyne
England
Coordinates55°00′51″N 1°40′45″W / 55.0142°N 1.6793°W / 55.0142; -1.6793
Grid referenceNZ206689
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyNorth Eastern Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 June 1905Opened as Kenton
1 July 1923Renamed Kenton Bank
17 June 1929Closed to passengers
3 January 1966Closed to freight

Kenton Bank was a railway station on the Ponteland Railway, which ran between South Gosforth and Ponteland, with a sub-branch line to Darras Hall. The station served Kenton in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was opened in 1905 as Kenton, renamed in 1923, and was closed to passengers in 1929, and to goods traffic in 1965.

The current Bank Foot station, on the Tyne and Wear Metro, lies on the site of the original station site.

History

The Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway was formed in 1899, under the Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 48). Construction of the line by the North Eastern Railway was authorised by Parliament in February 1901. The station was opened, as Kenton, on 1 June 1905, the line between South Gosforth and Ponteland having opened to goods traffic, with passenger services commencing in June 1905.[1]

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. In July 1923, the station was renamed Kenton Bank, to avoid confusion with the station of the same name on the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway.[2][3]

As a result of poor passenger numbers, the station, along with the branch line closed to passengers on 17 June 1929.[4] The station remained open for goods traffic, before closing altogether on 3 January 1966. The line through the station however remained open to serve the explosives depot at ICI Callerton, situated between Callerton and Ponteland stations, where explosives were transferred from rail to road for onward transport to quarries in Northumberland.[3]

In May 1981, the line between South Gosforth and Bank Foot was rebuilt to become part of the Tyne and Wear Metro network. Freight traffic to and from the explosives depot continued to share the line with the metro until the depot closed in March 1989. The Metro line was later extended from Bank Foot to Newcastle Airport in November 1991. The current Bank Foot Metro station is situated on part of the site of the former station of Kenton Bank.[3][5][6][7][8]

References

  1. ^ Quick, Michael (2009). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology. Railway and Canal Historical Society. pp. 103, 131, 142, 234, 326 and 421. ISBN 978-0901461575.
  2. ^ Bradshaw's Railway Guide (Reprint ed.). London: Guild Publishing. 1985 [1922].
  3. ^ a b c Young, Alan (2 July 2017). "Disused Stations: Kenton Bank Station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. ^ Quick, Michael (2009). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology. Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 234. ISBN 978-0901461575.
  5. ^ Hoole, Ken (1987). The North Eastern Electrics. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0 85361 358 3.
  6. ^ "Metro's airport extension celebrates its 25th year". Nexus. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. ^ Houlison, Sam (16 November 2016). "The Metro to the airport opened 25 years ago". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Kenton Bank Foot" (Map). RailMapOnline. Retrieved 15 October 2024. Use 'Layers' tab to add stations and their labels to the map to see the original station location.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Callerton   North Eastern Railway
Ponteland Railway 		  Coxlodge