South Gosforth Metro station


South Gosforth is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Gosforth in Newcastle upon Tyne. The station joined the network in August 1980, following the opening of the line between Haymarket and Tynemouth – the first stage of the network to open.
The station was originally opened as Gosforth in June 1864, under the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The station was later renamed South Gosforth in March 1905, owing to the opening of the nearby West Gosforth, on the Ponteland and Darras Hall Branch.
The original North Eastern Railway footbridge remains in use at South Gosforth. A similar footbridge removed from Percy Main has since been preserved by the National Railway Museum in York.
The station is located near to the South Gosforth Traction Maintenance Depot, which is located between stations at South Gosforth, Longbenton and Regent Centre. The depot, which opened in October 1923 under the London and North Eastern Railway, now serves as a facility for cleaning, storing and maintaining a fleet of 89 Metrocars.
The station also houses the Metro Control Centre. It is responsible for operating the network's signalling and electrical supply, as well as being used to communicate with train drivers and other staff, using two-way radio equipment.
South Gosforth was used by 1,608,102 passengers in 2017–18, making it the fifth-most-used station on the network, after Monument, Haymarket, Central, and Gateshead.

Facilities

Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with ramped access to platforms at South Gosforth. Between platforms, step-free access is by the road bridge on Station Road. 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, 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 this station. There is the provision for cycle parking, with 5 cycle pods available for use.

Service and frequency

South Gosforth is served by the, which operates between South Hylton and Airport, with an end-to-end journey time of 64 minutes, and the, which operates between South Shields and St. James, with an end-to-end journey time of 83 minutes.
Services from platform 1 operate towards South Hylton and South Shields, with the first trains departing at 05:07 and 05:00. Services from platform 2 operate towards Airport and St. James via Whitley Bay, with the first trains departing at 06:05 and 05:56.
Trains run frequently across the network, at intervals of up to every 12 minutes, and every 15 minutes, with the last trains departing at around midnight. Combined, trains run at intervals of up to every 6 minutes, and every 7–8 minutes between Pelaw and South Gosforth.
Additional trains run during morning and evening peak hours between Pelaw and Regent Centre or Monkseaton. This provides a train up to every 3 minutes through the station at peak times.
Journey times from South Gosforth are: