Tyne Dock is a neighbourhood within the town of South Shields, North East England, on the south bank of the River Tyne. It takes its name from the large dock on the river which was opened in 1859 by the North Eastern Railway (and acquired by the Tyne Improvement Commission in 1938) to handle Tyneside's coal exports. At its height the trade amounted to 7 million tons of coal transported via the four staiths which had been built to facilitate the process.