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Pelaw Metro stationPelaw Metro station serves the Pelaw area of Gateshead, England. Situated on the Tyne and Wear Metro system, it is at the point where the Yellow and Green lines diverge, with the former continuing to South Shields and the latter over tracks shared with mainline trains to Sunderland and then...
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Newcastle to Sunderland|
and Durham Coast LineThe Durham Coast Line is the name given to the railway line which links Newcastle upon Tyne with Middlesbrough, via Sunderland and Hartlepool...
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(Green line)|Wardley Colliery|}}
{{BS5-2|||exDST|||||FreightlinerFreightliner Group Limited is a rail freight and logistics company, founded in 1995 and now operating in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia. It is the second largest rail freight operator in the UK, after DB Schenker Rail .- History :...
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{{BS5-2|||exHST|exCONTg||Washington|To South Shields
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{{BS5-2|exCONTf||exDST|||To Annfield Plain
|FreightlinerFreightliner Group Limited is a rail freight and logistics company, founded in 1995 and now operating in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia. It is the second largest rail freight operator in the UK, after DB Schenker Rail .- History :...
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{{BS5-2|||exWBRÜCKE|||and Consett
|Victoria Viaduct across
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{{BS5-2|||exSTR||||the
River WearThe River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
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{{BS5-2|||exABZrg|exCONTl|||To Sunderland
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{{BS5-2||exÜWc2|exÜWor|||East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
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{{BS5-2||STR|exSTR|exCONTg|||Durham-Sunderland lineThe Durham to Sunderland Line was a railway line in the North East of England. The line no longer exists, but many features along its path are still visible.-History:...
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{{BS5-2||STR|exHST|exHST||Sherburn House|Sherburn Colliery|}}
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DurhamDurham railway station serves the city of Durham on the East Coast Main Line. The railway station is managed by East Coast. Despite its small functional capacity the station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line and is called at by many intercity services travelling the route.The travel...
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To Trimdon Colliery |}}
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To Bishop Auckland|
(and formerly Hartlepool)|}}
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East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
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The
Leamside Line (originally part of the Durham Junction Railway) is a railway line in the
North East of EnglandNorth East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
, branching off from the main
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
(
ECML) at
Tursdale JunctionTursdale is a hamlet in County Durham, England. It is situated in rural landscape about two miles to the west of Coxhoe, two miles North of Cornforth and around five miles south of Durham. It is part of the civil parish of Cassop-cum-Quarrington.It is ideally located for speedy access to both...
in
County DurhamCounty 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...
, and continuing north through
WashingtonWashington is a town in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear...
and
WardleyWardley is located on the edge of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, at the borders of Washington and South Tyneside. It is in the postal code area NE10. It is near the Leam Lane Estate....
, finally joining the
NewcastleNewcastle 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...
to Sunderland line at
Pelaw JunctionPelaw is a district that forms part of the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, in north-east England.It lies in between the older settlements of Heworth to the West and Bill Quay to the East with Wardley to the south and the southern bank of the river Tyne forming the northern...
.
It is currently out of use, having been mothballed by
British RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
in 1991 after the closure of the
FreightlinerFreightliner Group Limited is a rail freight and logistics company, founded in 1995 and now operating in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Australia. It is the second largest rail freight operator in the UK, after DB Schenker Rail .- History :...
freight terminal at Follingsby, near Washington, which was the recipient of most of the line's traffic in its last years. A short section of the line from Pelaw Junction remained in operation for a number of years, serving the open-cast coal mine at Wardley, but this too has now closed.
History
The line opened in 1839, and was formed from the original lines of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway and the Durham Junction Railway. It constituted part of the original East Coast Main Line route from Edinburgh to London, eventually being incorporated into the
North Eastern RailwayThe 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...
. The line's main source of revenue, as with most of the early railways, was mineral traffic, principally
coalCoal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from the Durham coalfield. The line was linked to many private colliery branch lines and wagonways.
It remained part of the main line until 1872 when the route was bypassed by the NER's
Bishop AucklandBishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...
to
GatesheadGateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
line and
CroxdaleCroxdale is a village in the civil parish of Croxdale and Hett, about 3 miles south of Durham City, in County Durham in England and on the A167 road, formerly part of the Great North Road.It is the location of Croxdale Hall, a Grade I listed building...
link, which became part of the ECML and remain so to this day.
Thereafter it continued to carry local passenger services and freight traffic, as well as serving as a useful diversionary route from the ECML. Passenger services between Leamside and Ferryhill were withdrawn in 1941 and Leamside station closed in 1953. The last regular passenger service was withdrawn in May 1964 as part of the infamous
Beeching AxeThe Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
although, in its latter days, this had only consisted of an early morning 'newspaper' train from Newcastle to Fencehouses and Durham only and a single workers' return service from Newcastle to Washington on Mondays to Fridays. Coal and other freight continued to be carried until the gradual closure of the Durham coalfield in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in a severe drop in the line's traffic. It was mothballed in 1991.
South of Victoria Viaduct, the line merged with the direct Durham to Sunderland Line for a short distance. This also fell to the Beeching Axe in 1964.
Victoria Viaduct
{{Main|Victoria Viaduct}}
The main engineering feature of the line is the Victoria Viaduct, or 'Victoria Bridge' until 1959, over the
River WearThe River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
near Washington. It is said to be based on the Roman bridge in
AlcántaraAlcántara is a municipality in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain, on the Tagus, near Portugal. The toponym is from the Arabic word al-QanTarah meaning "the bridge".-History:...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
The rails pass 135 feet (41.1 m) over the valley, carried on four great arches. The middle two arches span 160 and 144 ft (48.8 and 43.9 ), and the arches beside them span 100 feet (30.5 m). In addition, there are three 20 feet (6.1 m) approach arches on both ends. Of the extant masonry railway viaducts in Britain, the Victoria has the second longest single span, exceeded only by the
Ballochmyle ViaductThe Ballochmyle Viaduct is the highest extant railway viaduct in Britain.-History:The viaduct was designed by John Miller of Edinburgh for the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway. This railway was the northern part of the line from Glasgow to Carlisle via Kilmarnock...
.
Passenger stations
During the line's period of operation, passenger stations served were:
- Usworth
- Washington
- Penshaw
- Fencehouses
- Leamside
- Sherburn
- Shincliffe
Re-opening the line is supported by many stakeholders including the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, the
Association of Train Operating CompaniesThe Association of Train Operating Companies is a body which represents 24 train operating companies that provide passenger railway services on the privatised British railway system. It owns the National Rail brand. The Association is an unincorporated association owned by its members...
and Durham City Council. The case for re-opening the line includes providing a Tyneside to Teesside commuter express train between
Newcastle Central StationNewcastle railway station , is the mainline station of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line. It opened in 1850 and is a Grade I listed building...
and
MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough railway station serves the large town of Middlesbrough in the borough of Middlesbrough and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The station is managed by First TransPennine Express and has two platforms...
which, according to the 2007 report produced by AECOM Faber Maunsell, would have a passenger patronage level of over 700,000 per annum with 90,000 of those utilising Park and Ride facilities at Washington and Durham (Belmont). In addition, the route would become a strategic diversionary route from the
East Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
and could accommodate expansion of the
Tyne and Wear MetroThe 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...
system between
WashingtonWashington is a town in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, England. Historically part of County Durham, it joined a new county in 1974 with the creation of Tyne and Wear...
and
PelawPelaw Metro station serves the Pelaw area of Gateshead, England. Situated on the Tyne and Wear Metro system, it is at the point where the Yellow and Green lines diverge, with the former continuing to South Shields and the latter over tracks shared with mainline trains to Sunderland and then...
.
TyneTees ExpressThe Tyne Tees Express is a proposed hourly rail service operating between Newcastle in Tyneside and Middlesbrough in Teesside located in North East England....
railway stations, as stated by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority would include:
- Newcastle Central Station
Newcastle railway station , is the mainline station of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England and is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line. It opened in 1850 and is a Grade I listed building...
- East Gateshead (Park Lane)
- Washington Parkway (Glover Road)
- Washington (Station Road)
- Penshaw (Coxgreen Road)
- Fencehouses (level crossing)
- Durham Parkway (Belmont)
- Ferryhill
- Stockton
Stockton railway station serves the town of Stockton-on-Tees, within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The railway station is located on the Durham Coast Line and is operated by Northern Rail who provide all of the stations passenger services...
- Thornaby
Thornaby railway station serves the town of Thornaby-on-Tees and due to having better connections than Stockton railway station also much of Stockton-on-Tees. It is located in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
- Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough railway station serves the large town of Middlesbrough in the borough of Middlesbrough and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The station is managed by First TransPennine Express and has two platforms...
The line today
After mothballing, the double track was reduced to a single line in some places, and the track was severed at some level crossings along the line. All its engineering features remain intact but the embankment which carries the line over Moors Burn, 500 yards to the north of the site of Fencehouses station, has partially collapsed, leaving the former down track suspended.(54.850776°N 1.507447°W)
Part of the
DurhamDurham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
to Sunderland line that left the Leamside Line near the south-east end of the
Victoria ViaductThe Victoria Viaduct, originally called the 'Victoria Bridge', is a rail bridge spanning the River Wear in North East England, carrying the mothballed Leamside Line. The bridge was commissioned by the Durham Junction Railway and designed by Thomas Elliot Harrison. It was based upon the Roman bridge...
has been brought back into use (2002) for the Sunderland Extension of the
Tyne and Wear MetroThe 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...
, terminating at
South HyltonSouth Hylton is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Lying west of Sunderland city centre on the south bank of the River Wear, South Hylton has a population of 10,317...
, around 3 miles from the former junction with the Leamside Line.
Around one mile (1.6 km) of track to the south of
PenshawThe village of Penshaw , formerly known as Painshaw or Pensher, is an area of the metropolitan district of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England...
was stolen in 2003 and will have to be replaced if the line is finally reopened. This theft, which took place over a six day period using a gang of workers who were unaware that the work was illegal, has substantially raised the costs of reopening the route.
Substantial parts of the line and infrastructure are also missing from around the former Usworth station which is also severely overgrown.
Future plans
On 4 December 2006, Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority announced that it had commissioned a study into the future use of the line, with a view to possible re-opening as a suburban railway linking into the local transport network. The next day, it was announced that Network Rail had also signed up to the study, although current plans for removal of the track
(see below) would still proceed. The study concluded in 2008 that the most appropriate use of the line would be to carry a regional service linking the
Tees ValleyThe Tees Valley is an area in the North East of England. It can be described as "greater Teesside" and consists of the four unitary authorities created by the breakup of the County of Cleveland in 1996: Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-On-Tees along with the borough of...
and
Tyne and WearTyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
regions, with the highest level of wider economic benefits achieved by minimising the journey time between the end points, rather than serving a large number of intermediate stations. According to the report, passenger demand would be great enough to produce a farebox revenue of over £2 million per year. Such a service would also allow scope for freight trains to operate.
The line had been briefly considered in 2000 for reopening by
RailtrackRailtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002...
as a diversionary freight route to take the burden from the congested ECML. A number of studies have advocated re-opening the line, for example
The vision for passenger rail services in the Tees Valley. Re-opening the line would provide economic benefits to areas depressed since the demise of the coal mining industry. However, these plans were put on hold.
Durham County Council's Local Transport Plan (LTP) indicates that the Council supports passenger traffic return to the Leamside Line, and would promote the service. See
Railwatch for more details.
If the Leamside line is opened to passenger traffic, it would lead to the reopening of several railway stations along the route. The Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions has expressed concern at the delays in determining the future of this line.
On 15 June 2009, the
Association of Train Operating CompaniesThe Association of Train Operating Companies is a body which represents 24 train operating companies that provide passenger railway services on the privatised British railway system. It owns the National Rail brand. The Association is an unincorporated association owned by its members...
(ATOC) included Washington as one of a number of towns in the UK that would benefit from the resinstatement of existing rail links that were closed or mothballed in the second half of the twentieth century. This would entail the opening of all or part of the Leamside Line either as part of the
National RailNational 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...
network, or as an extension of the
Tyne and Wear MetroThe 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...
. Both systems could potentially be connected at the northern end of the line at Pelaw Junction, while the Leamside line continues to link with the East Coast Main Line to the south. A third option would be to form a loop line with the Sunderland Metro extension, which runs on the trackbed of the
Durham to Sunderland LineThe Durham to Sunderland Line was a railway line in the North East of England. The line no longer exists, but many features along its path are still visible.-History:...
as far as
South HyltonSouth Hylton is a suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England. Lying west of Sunderland city centre on the south bank of the River Wear, South Hylton has a population of 10,317...
, with the disused trackbed continuing to its junction with the Leamside Line. Although the historical junction only allowed trains to merge onto the Leamside Line in a southerly direction, space is available to create a short section joining the two tracks in the other direction.
Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority once again showed its support for the reopening of the line on 28 January 2010 when members once again called for improved links between
TynesideTyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
and
TeessideTeesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}}
Track removal
On 14 September 2006,
Network RailNetwork Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
announced plans to lift the track along the full length of the line. It was maintained that the track, after 15 years out of use, would need replacing anyway if the line was ever to re-open, and that this move would have no implications for any future use of the railway. The company also pledged that all bridges would be left in place, with no sales of land attached to the line. A former
British RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
engineer, who oversaw a major upgrade of the line just two years before its closure, has countered Network Rail's claims, saying that the track is still in excellent condition and would need only minimal refurbishment to bring it back into use. In July 2010 the government said they have no plans to reopen the line, but the land the track runs on will not be sold. The track remains extant.
External links
{{Commons category|Leamside Line}}