Junction Diagram showing railways in the vicinity of Gateshead The
station was opened by the
Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway on 18 June 1844. The remainder of the station lost its trainshed in 1968, but continued to be served throughout the 1970s. It was eventually closed on 23 November 1981, having been effectively made redundant by the newly commissioned
Tyne and Wear Metro route between Newcastle and . A new sub-surface
Gateshead Metro station on this line had been opened about to the south-east a few days previously. The platforms and buildings at Gateshead East remained substantially intact until the late 1980s, but after sustaining major fire damage they were demolished in 1990. The former West platforms by contrast are still intact and visible from passing trains, though the buildings have been cleared and the line passing through them singled in 1991 as part of the Newcastle area resignalling scheme. ==References==