Heaton TMD is a railway Traction Maintenance Depot

Traction maintenance depot

In the United Kingdom, a traction maintenance depot, or TMD, is a railway depot where locomotives are serviced and maintained. A traction and rolling stock maintenance depot, or T&RSMD, is a maintenance depot where locomotives, multiple units and rolling stock are serviced and maintained. Each rail...

 situated in the Heaton

Heaton, Newcastle

Heaton is a residential suburb and is split into two electoral wards located in the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, about from the City Centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Benton and Cochrane Park to the north, Walker and Walkergate to the east, Byker to the south and...

 area of Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located next to the East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

, around 2 miles (3 km) east of Newcastle railway station. The depot is operated by Northern Rail

Northern Rail

Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...

, and mostly houses stock operated by them and Grand Central. The depot code is HT.

The nearest Metro

Tyne and Wear Metro

The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...

 stations to Heaton Depot are Walkergate

Walkergate Metro station

Walkergate Metro station in Newcastle upon Tyne, is on the Yellow line of the Tyne and Wear Metro. It is located near Heaton TMD.Originally opened in 1839 by the Newcastle & North Shields Railway as Walker, it was renamed Walker Gate on 1 April 1889...

 and Chillingham Road

Chillingham Road Metro station

Chillingham Road Metro station is located in the south of the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, and is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro service. It was originally to be called Parsons, reflecting its proximity to the Parsons engineering works...

, whilst the nearest National Rail

National Rail

National Rail is a title used by the Association of Train Operating Companies as a generic term to define the passenger rail services operated in Great Britain...

 station is Manors

Manors railway station

Manors railway station is located in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is connected to the East Coast Main Line and all trains serving it are operated by Northern Rail...

. The entrance to the site is from Benfield Road, just south of where the ECML

East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...

 crosses it.

Allocation

• Class 142
  British Rail Class 142
  The British Rail Class 142 is a class of Pacer diesel multiple units used in the United Kingdom. 96 units were built by BREL in Derby between 1985 and 1987. They were a development of the earlier Class 141 which were introduced in 1984....
  
  
• Class 156
  British Rail Class 156
  The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...
  
  

Although not allocated to the depot, Classes 91

British Rail Class 91

The British Rail Class 91 is a class of , electric locomotives ordered as a component of the East Coast Main Line modernisation and electrification programme of the late 1980s. The Class 91s were given the auxiliary name of InterCity 225 to indicate their envisaged top speed of...

, 180

British Rail Class 180

The Class 180 is a type of British diesel multiple unit train built by Alstom between 2000 and 2001 for use on then-new express services by First Great Western . They were built at Washwood Heath in Birmingham and are part of the Coradia 1000 family along with the Class 175. FGW stopped using the...

, 220

British Rail Class 220

The Class 220 Voyager are a class of diesel-electric high-speed multiple-unit trains built by Bombardier Transportation in 2000 and 2001....

 and 221

British Rail Class 221

The Class 221 Super Voyager is a class of British diesel-electric multiple-unit express trains built by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, entering service on 12 April 2002....

 as well as HSTs

High Speed Train

There are three types of trains in Britain that have been traditionally viewed as high speed trains:* Advanced Passenger Train - Tilting trains which never entered into regular revenue-earning service....

 may also be visible. This is because East Coast, Grand Central and CrossCountry all sub-contract some of the maintenance to this depot for their trains.

Northern Class 158s

British Rail Class 158

British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train, built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at its Derby Works. They were built to replace many locomotive-hauled passenger trains, and allowed cascading of existing Sprinter units to replace elderly 'heritage' DMUs...

, Class 144s

British Rail Class 144

The British Rail Class 144 "Pacer" diesel multiple units were built by BREL Derby from 1986-1987. A total of 23 units were built, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs....

 and Class 150s

British Rail Class 150

The British Rail Class 150 "Sprinter" diesel multiple units were built by BREL from 1984-87. A total of 137 units were built in three main subclasses, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs.- Background :...

 also regularly visit Heaton for maintenance.

Vantage Points

Whilst the depot is closed to the public, other than the occasional open day organised by Northern Rail, it's position allows good vantage points. You can see the depot from trains passing on the ECML running both northbound and southbound, due to the depot's location next to the mainline tracks. You can also see the depot from passing Metro trains

Tyne and Wear Metro

The Tyne and Wear Metro, also known as the Metro, is a light rail system in North East England, serving Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside and Sunderland. It opened in 1980 and in 2007–2008 provided 40 million public journeys on its network of nearly...

 or the Chillingham Road Metro station

Chillingham Road Metro station

Chillingham Road Metro station is located in the south of the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, and is served by the Tyne and Wear Metro service. It was originally to be called Parsons, reflecting its proximity to the Parsons engineering works...

offers good views. Currently, with no buildings between the depot and Shields Road it can also be seen from the road, albeit from a distance.