Darlington railway station
Encyclopedia
Darlington railway station, also known as Darlington Bank Top, is the main railway station
Train station
A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 for the town of Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

, in the ceremonial county of County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, 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...

. The station is located on 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...

 232 miles (373.4 km) north of London Kings Cross.

The town is the location of the first commercial steam railway: The Stockton and Darlington Railway
Stockton and Darlington Railway
The Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...

. The station itself is a Grade II* listed Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 structure, and winner of the Large Station of the Year award in 2005. It has a full range of passenger facilities, including a buffet, newsagent, First Class Lounge and travel centre.

History

The first railway to pass through the area now occupied by the station was built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway
Stockton and Darlington Railway
The Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...

, who opened their mineral branch from Albert Hill Junction on their main line to Croft-on-Tees
Croft-on-Tees
Croft-on-Tees is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. South of Darlington, it stands on the opposite side of the River Tees from Hurworth-on-Tees and is situated on the A167. The bridge over the Tees between Croft and Hurworth marks the boundary...

 on 27 October 1829. This branch line was subsequently purchased by the Great North of England Railway
Great North of England Railway
The Great North of England Railway was an early British railway company. Its main line, opened in 1841 was between York and Darlington, and originally it was planned to extend to Newcastle. In 1850 it was absorbed by the North Eastern Railway ....

 a decade later to incorporate into their new main line from York
York railway station
York railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...

 which reached the town on 30 March 1841. A separate company, the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway continued the new main line northwards towards Ferryhill
Ferryhill
Ferryhill is a town in south-central County Durham, England with a population of around 11,651 people, making it the 8th biggest town in the County. It is in the Durham County Unitary area...

 and Newcastle
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...

, opening its route three years later on 19 June 1844. This crossed the S&D at Parkgate Junction by means of a flat crossing which would in future years become something of an operational headache for the North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...

 and LNER. The original Bank Top station where the two routes met was a modest affair, which was rebuilt in 1860 to accommodate the expanding levels of traffic on the main line. By the mid 1880s even this replacement structure was deemed inadequate and so the NER embarked on a major upgrade to facilities in the area. This included an ornate new station with an impressive three-span overall roof on the Bank Top site, new sidings and goods lines alongside it and a new connecting line from the south end of the station (Polam Junction) to meet the original S&D line towards Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

 at Oak Tree Junction near . These improvements were completed on 1 July 1887, when the old route west of Oak Tree closed to passengers (although it remained in use for freight until 1967).

Local legend states that it was Queen Victoria, stretching her legs at the station on a journey from London to Edinburgh, who demanded that an historical railway town such as Darlington must have a better station than it did at that time.
The new station, with its broad island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...

 cost some £81,000 to construct and soon became a busy interchange on the main East Coast route, thanks to its rail links to Richmond
Richmond railway station (North Yorkshire)
Richmond railway station was a railway station that served the town of Richmond in North Yorkshire, England.-History:Richmond station was the terminus of the now closed Eryholme-Richmond branch line....

 (opened in 1846), and (1862/5) and the Tees Valley Line
Tees Valley Line
The Tees Valley Line is a name for the railway route between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn via Darlington and Middlesbrough. Also operated on the line are services from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Middlesbrough and Saltburn via Darlington....

 to (1842) and (1861).

In 1928 it was the site of a rail crash in which two trains collided, killing 25 people.
The lines to Penrith (closed in 1962), Barnard Castle (1964) and Richmond (1969) have now gone (along with the bays at the northern end of the station, now used for car parking), but the main line (electrified in 1991) and the Tees Valley route remain busy. It is also still possible to travel to Catterick Garrison
Catterick Garrison
Catterick Garrison is a major Army base located in Northern England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world with a population of around 12,000, plus a large temporary population of soldiers, and is larger than its older neighbour...

 and Richmond
Richmond, North Yorkshire
Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...

 from here, by means of the Arriva North East
Arriva North East
Arriva North East is a division of the transport group Arriva. It is a major provider of bus services around north east England, alongside Stagecoach North East, and Go North East...

-operated X26 and X27 buses (which have through 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...

 ticketing arrangements). The same company also operated the Sky Express bus service to Durham Tees Valley Airport
Durham Tees Valley Airport
Durham Tees Valley Airport is an international airport in north east England, located southeast of Darlington, about southwest of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. The airport serves County Durham and parts of North Yorkshire, and is in Middleton St George in the borough of Darlington...

 from the station, but this was withdrawn in January 2009 due to declining demand.

Back in the 1980s a replica set of Darlington Railway Station was built for an episode of Noel's Saturday Roadshow for the BBC.

On Saturday 3 October 2009, a Northern Rail train hit the rear end of a departing National Express East Coast service. Three passengers from the Northern Rail train were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Services

Darlington is well served by trains on 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...

, with regular trains to London King's Cross (via ), , Glasgow and Edinburgh
Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...

 operated by East Coast
East Coast (train operating company)
East Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...

. Two trains per hour run towards London and Newcastle for much of the day, with hourly services to Edinburgh. There are also several daily services to & and also a daily direct service to .
Due to the introduction of the new ECML timtable on 22nd May 2011 East Coast now only provide on daily direct service from London King's Cross to Glasgow Central
Glasgow Central
Glasgow Central has more than one meaning:*Glasgow Central railway station, a railway station in Glasgow, Scotland*Glasgow Central , a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, from 1885 to 1997 and from 2005 to present...

 which calls at Darlington.

CrossCountry services between Edinburgh/Newcastle and Birmingham New Street and beyond (to and and to Bristol Temple Meads, and ) also call here twice each hour, along with hourly First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express
First TransPennine Express is a British train operating company. It is a joint operation between First Group and Keolis . It operates regular passenger services in northern England, including services linking the west and east coasts across the Pennines...

 trains between Newcastle and Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport railway station
Manchester Airport railway station is the railway station that serves Manchester Airport and is built into the airport's terminal buildings. The station was opened together with the second airport terminal in 1993.- Description:...

 via , and .

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...

 run their Tees Valley line trains twice hourly to , Redcar
Redcar Central railway station
Redcar Central railway station serves the town of Redcar in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. It is located on the Tees Valley Line and operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services. Redcar Central is a staffed Monday...

 and Saltburn (hourly on Sundays), whilst the branch has a service every two hours for most of the day, increasing to hourly during the morning and evening peaks. The company also operates Sundays-only trains to and Whitby
Whitby railway station
Whitby railway station serves the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It is the terminus of the Esk Valley Line, connecting with the North Yorkshire Moors Railway at Grosmont, and provides mainline running for NYMR trains during the summer months...

, although the latter only run during the summer months.

Platforms

Darlington railway station has five main platforms:
Platform 1: This is the main southbound platform, with, in order of frequency, East Coast services to York and London King's Cross, Cross Country services to Reading and Southampton or Birmingham and Plymouth, via York and Leeds, First TransPennine Express services to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport or Liverpool Lime Street, via York and Leeds, and Northern services to Saltburn via Middlesbrough, from Bishop Auckland.
Platforms 2 and 3: These platforms are south-facing bays used exclusively by Northern Rail services terminating at Darlington from Saltburn and Middlesbrough. Platform 2 is used most frequently.
Platform 4: This is the main northbound platform, with, in order of frequency, East Coast services to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle, Cross Country services to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle, First TransPennine Express services to Newcastle and Northern services to Bishop Auckland.
Platform 4b: This is a southern extension of platform four catering for trains waiting at Darlington such that they can be bypassed by trains stopping at platform 4. It is the only platform that is not under the station roof. It is used predominantly by Northern Rail services for Bishop Auckland.

Future

As part of the Tees Valley Metro
Tees Valley Metro
The Tees Valley Metro is a project to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service. In the initial phases the services will be heavy rail mostly along existing alignments. The later phase may introduce...

, two new platforms will open on the eastern edge of the main station. There will be a total of 4 trains per hour, to and Saltburn
Saltburn railway station
Saltburn Railway Station serves the town of Saltburn-by-the-Sea in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is the terminus of the Tees Valley Line and is operated by Northern Rail who provide all passenger train services...

 via the Tees Valley Line
Tees Valley Line
The Tees Valley Line is a name for the railway route between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn via Darlington and Middlesbrough. Also operated on the line are services from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to Middlesbrough and Saltburn via Darlington....

, and trains will not have to cross the East Coast Mainline when the new platforms are built.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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