Byker, Newcastle
Byker Railway Station
Last Updated:
13 Aug 2020
Byker, Newcastle
This is a
Railway Station
54.977577, -1.588034
Founded in
Current status is
Demolished
Designer (if known):
The site is now occupied by a Morrison's car park. A small part of the platform still exists but overgrown.
'The site was immediately beyond the junction with the Coast Circle, tucked behind the shopping street of Shields Road. Its down platform ramp was only a foot wide where it squeezed into the gap between the down Riverside and the up Coast lines, sharing the constricted site with Riverside Junction signal box. The buildings were simpler than at the earlier stations, consisting of a waiting shelter on each platform and a small booking office south of the up platform. A footbridge connected the platforms. Immediately west of the station, were coal sidings with a depot, noted in the NER Trade & Commerce book of 1912.'
Prior to opening for general passenger traffic the station was referred to as Byker Platform, as in the working timetable of 1.10.1898, where only workmen’s trains and one Relief Passenger Train were shown to call. Byker was administratively an annexe to Heaton, so passenger bookings for most of its life were credited to Heaton. Passenger use was limited by the proximity of Heaton station, with its vastly superior service, and the frequent trams, buses, and trolley buses on Shields Road. The obscure site, approached from an inconspicuous street off Shields Road and its inaccessibility from the north also reduced its traffic. With these factors loaded against it, Byker closed on 5 April 1954.
A quarter-century after closure Byker station retained both of its platforms, its lamp-posts, and its nameboard stanchions. By 1989 only the platforms remained with their edge stones removed; however, the site is now landfilled and has been redeveloped as a car park for the adjacent Morrisons supermarket which opened in 2002.
A station of the same name opened on the Tyne & Wear Metro on 14.11.1982.'
- Disused Stations
Listing Description (if available)
The two maps above illustrate Byker station from 1898 to 1921. The 1898 map shows the platforms coming off the East Coast Main Line at the current Morrison's site. The platforms were relatively small designed for a couple of carriages and a suburban locomotive. It was however in a central location between the areas of Byker and Heaton, though its entrance could only be reached via an awkward walkway from Shields Road. The site was adjacent to a brick works which utilised a couple of sidings, and Heaton Station wasn't too far to the east.
The 1921 map displays a similar scene, with not much changing except the brick works are unlabelled.
The 1944 map displays the sweeping terraces typical of the east end, and the tunnel which goes under Shields Road down to Walker. The tunnel cannot be seen nowadays as it has been covered over, though the alignment is now a footpath all the way along the railway to Wallsend.
Photograph from a passing railway service of Byker station, 1964. This was a few years after its closure, though its platforms and overbridge are in situ. The Riverside branch was still in use for the many industries that lined the Tyne, though Byker's station had fell out of disuse quickly thanks to the improvement of public transport which took travellers straight into the city centre.
Retrieved from Alan Young at Disused Stations
Photograph of Byker Station some 10 years later in 1974. This photo is facing northwards as the Heaton terraces can be seen. The platform still remains in situ though it's likely the overbridge has been demolished. The photo was taken 1 year after the Riverside branch had formally closed.
