Bank Foot is a station on the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Kenton Bank Foot in Newcastle upon Tyne. The station joined the network as a terminus station in May 1981, following the opening of the line between South Gosforth and Bank Foot. Following the opening of the line between Bank Foot and Airport in November 1991, the station opened to through services. During the construction of the line, a dedicated bus service operated between Bank Foot and Newcastle International Airport. In October 2012, traffic enforcement cameras were installed at the level crossings at Bank Foot and Kingston Park. Similar cameras were installed at Callerton Parkway in 2008. In 2018, the station, along with others on the Airport branch, were refurbished as part of the Metro: All Change programme. The project saw improvements to accessibility, security and energy efficiency, as well as the re-branding of the station to the new black and white corporate colour scheme. The station was used by 109,284 passengers in 2017–18, making it the third-least-used station on the network, after St. Peter's and Pallion.
History
Bank Foot is located on to the site of the former Kenton Bank station, which opened in June 1905, as part of the Ponteland and Darras Hall branch of the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The line closed to passengers in June 1929, with goods services operating from the station until January 1966. Following the opening of the Tyne and Wear Metro station as a terminus in May 1981, the approach to Bank Foot was single track, with one platform on the south side. For the first few years of operation, the Tyne and Wear Metro shared the line with freight services running to ICI Callerton, where explosives were transferred from rail to road for onward transport to quarries in Northumberland. This traffic ceased following the closure of ICI Callerton, in March 1989. There were originally three tracks here. On the south side was the platform line, on the north side a siding for use by the Tyne and Wear Metro, and in the middle the non-electrified through line for freight services. The ownership boundary between the Tyne and Wear Metro and British Rail was the level crossing on Station Road, to the west of the station. When the line was extended to Airport, the bridge to the east was re-built as double track, with Bank Foot station re-modelled as a double track station. A second platform was built on the north side. The level crossing was also re-built in the same style as the other open level crossings on the system.
Facilities
Step-free access is available at all stations across the Tyne and Wear Metro network, with ramped access to both platforms at Bank Foot. 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. A pay and displaycar park is available, with 62 spaces. There is also the provision for cycle parking, with 8 cycle pods available for use.
Service and frequency
Bank Foot is served by the, which operates between South Hylton and Airport, with an end-to-end journey time of 64 minutes. Services from platform 1 operate towards South Hylton, with the first train departing at 05:45. Services from platform 2 operate towards Airport, with the first train departing at 05:27. 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. Journey times from Bank Foot are:
