| Kingston Park | |
| Style: | Tyne and Wear Metro |
| Type: | Tyne and Wear Metro station |
| Address: | Kingston Park Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 55.0144°N -1.6661°W |
| Map Type: | United Kingdom Newcastle-upon-Tyne#Tyne and Wear |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Transit Authority: | Tyne and Wear PTE |
| Platform: | 2 |
| Tracks: | 2 |
| Zone: | B |
| Parking: | 96 spaces |
| Bicycle: | 5 cycle pods |
| Accessible: | Step-free access to platform |
| Original: | Tyne and Wear Metro |
| Years: | 15 September 1985 |
| Events: | Opened |
| Passengers: | 0.44 million[1] |
| Pass Year: | 2017/18 |
| Code: | KSP |
Kingston Park is a Tyne and Wear Metro station, serving the suburb of Kingston Park in the English city of Newcastle upon Tyne. It was opened in 1985, adjacent to the level crossing carrying Brunton Lane across the railway and with staggered platforms on either side of the level crossing.
The station is located on the route of the former Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway, which opened on 1 March 1905, with passenger services commencing three months later, but which never included a station at Kingston Park. The line through the site closed to passengers on 17 June 1929, but remained open to serve freight, latterly to the depot at ICI Callerton, where explosives were transferred from rail to road for onward transport to quarries in Northumberland.[2] [3]
In the late 1970s the line through the site was restructured to form the second phase of the Tyne and Wear Metro, between South Gosforth and Bank Foot. This opened on 10 May 1981, but again no station was provided at Kingston Park. On 22 March 1983, a Metro service collided with a bus operated by the Tyne and Wear PTE on the level crossing. Two people were injured in the accident.[2] [4]
The development of the area surrounding Kingston Park, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, led to calls for the provision of a station. The current station eventually opened on 15 September 1985. Freight traffic to ICI Callerton continued to pass through the station until March 1989, when that depot closed, and the Metro line was extended in 1991 from Bank Foot to Newcastle Airport.[2]
In October 2012, traffic enforcement cameras were installed at the level crossings at Kingston Park and Bank Foot.[5] Similar cameras were installed at Callerton Parkway in 2008.[6]
The station was used by 443,907 passengers in 2017–18, making it the third-most-used station on the Airport branch, after South Gosforth (1,608,102) and Regent Centre (713,308).[1]
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.[7]
Kingston Park has two side platforms, which are staggered on opposite sides of the level crossing on Brunton Lane. The eastbound platform lies to the west of the level crossing, with the westbound platform to the east. There are separate ramped accesses to the two platforms from Brunton Lane. A pay and display car park (operated by Newcastle City Council) is available, with 96 spaces, plus four accessible spaces. There is also the provision for cycle parking, with five cycle pods available.[8]
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 (including contactless payment), notes and coins.[9] [10] The station is also fitted with smartcard validators, which feature at all stations across the network.[11] [12]
, the station is served by up to five trains per hour on weekdays and Saturday, and up to four trains per hour during the evening and on Sunday. In the southbound direction, trains run to via and . In the northbound direction, trains run to .[8]
Rolling stock used: Class 599 Metrocar