Kenton Bank railway station

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.

The station was opened as Kenton on 1 June 1905, by the North Eastern Railway. It was later renamed Kenton Bank in July 1923, to avoid confusion with the station of the same name on the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway.

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.

In March 1905, the 7-mile section from South Gosforth to Ponteland was opened to goods traffic, with passenger services commencing in June 1905.

A 11⁄4-mile extension of the branch line to the garden city of Darras Hall in Northumberland, known as the Little Callerton Railway, was authorised in 1909. Unlike the Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway, the extension was not constructed as a light railway. Passenger services commenced between Ponteland and Darras Hall in October 1913.

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.

As a result of poor passenger numbers, the station, along with the branch line closed to passengers on 17 June 1929. The station remained open for goods traffic, before closing altogether on 3 January 1966.

Tyne and Wear Metro
In May 1981, a section of the former branch line was reopened in stages between South Gosforth and Bank Foot, as part of the Tyne and Wear Metro network. The line was later extended from Bank Foot to Newcastle Airport in November 1991. The current station at Bank Foot is situated on part of the site of the former station of Kenton Bank.