West Gosforth railway station

The Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway was formed in 1899, under the Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 48), and construction of the line, by the North Eastern Railway, was authorised by Parliament in February 1901. In March 1905, the 7-mile section from South Gosforth to Ponteland was opened to goods traffic, with passenger services commencing in June 1905.^[1]

West Gosforth station was opened on 1 June 1905. It consisted of two side platforms, and had simple pitched roof station building and a signal box on the down platform, with access to a small goods shed at the back of the same platform. 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.^[2][3]

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. The line through the station remained open, to serve sidings at the ICI Callerton explosives depot, situated between Callerton and Ponteland, and Rowntree's Fawdon factory, just west of Coxlodge.^[2][4]

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 Rowntree's factory and ICI Callerton continued to share the line with the metro until they closed in July 1988 and March 1989 respectively. The Metro line was later extended from Bank Foot to Newcastle Airport in November 1991. The current station at Regent Centre is situated on the site of the former station of West Gosforth.^{[2][5][6][7][8]}