Of the two proposed routes one was chosen in 1835, changed the following year so Tynemouth was on the main line rather than served by a branch.

To compensate landowners for the lost income from wayleaves on coal carried on the existing wagonways, a toll of 3⁄4d[a] a mile was agreed.

[2] After leaving the temporary terminus at Newcastle the railway passed through a short tunnel before crossing two viaducts built using laminated timber arches on masonry piers, similar to the Wiebeking system used on the Seine at Pont d'Ivry in Paris.

The railway opened on 18 June 1839 when two trains carried a total of 700 passengers on a return trip to a celebration in Tynemouth, which was interrupted by a violent thunderstorm that flooded the marquee.

In 1982 almost all of the main route (from a point just east of Heaton to Tynemouth and beyond) was converted to form part of the Tyne and Wear Metro Yellow line.