Tyneside Electrics

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The Tyneside Electric refers to the suburban railways on Tyneside that were electrified by the North Eastern Railway from 1904 onwards; they formed one of the earliest suburban electric networks. They were electrified using the Third Rail system but converted to diesel operation in the 1960s to save money. In the 1980s much of the system was converted to form the Tyne & Wear Metro.

The lines covered were the North Tyneside Loop from Newcastle via Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay and South Gosforth back to Newcastle; the main line from Newcastle to Benton (providing a short cut to Whitley Bay), the riverside loop from Newcastle to North Shields via Walker, and, south of the Tyne, the line from Newcastle to South Shields.