Harton Electric Railway was built by the Harton Coal Company to transport coal from their collieries in South Tyneside. The railway was electrified in 1908, and originally employed a fleet of electric locomotives built by Siemens (probably related to there being German shareholders in Harton Coal Company at that time). The network included a line which ran from Westoe Colliery via St Hilda's Colliery, to the company's  Low Staiths on the River Tyne (near the site of todays ferry landing) in South Shields. There was also a line from Harton Colliery up to Westoe Colliery, and also a line from Boldon Colliery to the High Staiths, by the River Tyne in South Shields.

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Nationalisation of the coal industry took effect on the 1st January 1947, enacting the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act of 1946. The National Coal Board (NCB) took over the operation of 958 collieries, which at that time employed nearly 800,000 workers (4% of Britain's total workforce). Many of the privately-owned collieries had been deemed small and inefficient, with about half were judged to be in need of immediate attention.

A notice was posted at every colliery: "This colliery is now managed by the National Coal Board on behalf of the people".