Tees Valley line

For the disused railway line between Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale, see Tees Valley Railway.

The Tees Valley Line is a railway route in Northern England, following part of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway route of 1825.^[2] The line covers a distance of 38 miles (61 km), and connects Bishop Auckland with Saltburn via Darlington, Middlesbrough and 14 other stations in the Teesdale.

Tees Valley Line
A Northern Rail Class 156 leaving Heighington station
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	County Durham North Yorkshire Tees Valley
Termini	Bishop Auckland Saltburn
Stations	18
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	Northern Trains TransPennine Express London North Eastern Railway
Rolling stock	Class 156 Class 158 Class 185 Class 800
History
Opened	27 September 1825
Technical
Track length	38 miles (61 km)[1]
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	60 mph (97 km/h)
Route map (Click to expand)

The section of line between Darlington and Bishop Auckland is branded as the Bishop Line and is supported by the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership.^[3] Beyond the line's western terminus at Bishop Auckland, the tracks continue for around 16 miles (26 km) to Stanhope along what is now the Weardale Heritage Railway.^[4]

History

A map of the railway network of the Tees Valley, and neighbouring areas of County Durham and North Yorkshire, at its greatest extent during the early 20th century

The section of line between Bishop Auckland and Albert Hill Junction, Darlington (prior to joining the East Coast Main Line), as well as the section between Oak Tree Junction, Dinsdale (near Middleton St. George) and Eaglescliffe, follow the original route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which dates back to 1825.^[2] The 1825 S&DR route is rejoined north of Eaglescliffe and runs as far as Bowesfield Junction, Stockton.

The S&DR line from Bowesfield to Watson's Wharf on the Tees near Middlesbrough opened in 1830, and this was extended to Redcar in 1846. The extension to Saltburn opened in 1861 and the line towards Brotton and Loftus opened in 1872. The line beyond Loftus (now the freight-only line to Boulby Mine) was part of the Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway, opened in 1883; it closed on 5 May 1958.^[5]

In March 2015, a 0.62 miles (1 km) electrified siding was laid adjacent to the Tees Valley Line, just south of Heighington. This allows low-speed testing of the trains manufactured at the nearby Hitachi Rail plant at Newton Aycliffe, including TOPS classes 800, 801, 805, 807, 810 and 385.^[6][7]

Services

Services on the Tees Valley Line are operated by three train operating companies:

• Northern Trains, with a half hourly service to Darlington, of which one train every hour extends to Bishop Auckland. Additional services operate along the Tees Valley Line during the morning peak, with some journeys between Middlesbrough and Newcastle running along the East Coast Main Line, rather than the Durham Coast Line.^[8]
• TransPennine Express also operates along part of the Tees Valley Line, with hourly services from Redcar Central and Middlesbrough to York, Leeds and Manchester Airport.^[9]
• London North Eastern Railway operates a weekday return service from Middlesbrough to London King's Cross.^[10]

Rolling stock

Predominantly, rolling stock on the Tees Valley Line consists of:

• Northern Trains operates Class 156 and Class 158 diesel multiple units (DMUs)
• TransPennine Express uses Class 185 DMUs
• London North Eastern Railway operates Class 800 bi-mode multiple units

Between 2019 and 2021, Class 156 and 158 units operating on the Tees Valley Line were refurbished, introducing free WiFi, power sockets, on-board passenger information displays and an interior refresh.^[11][12][13]

Class 185 units were refurbished as part of a £32 million investment, with the work being completed in 2018.^[14]

Class 142 Pacer DMUs formerly served the line on Northern services, until the early 2020s when they were withdrawn from passenger service.^[15]

Stations

v t e Tees Valley line
Legend
Weardale Railway Durham–Bishop Auckland Line Bishop Auckland South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway Clarence Railway to Ferryhill Stockton & Darlington Railway to Brussleton Lane Shildon Tunnel Shildon Locomotion Museum Shildon Sidings Newton Aycliffe Clarence Railway to Stillington Heighington Hitachi Newton Aycliffe  A1(M)  Darlington & Barnard Castle Railway North Road Skerne Bridge over River Skerne East Coast Main Line to Newcastle Darlington (Bank Top) East Coast Main Line to York Fighting Cocks Dinsdale Teesside Airport Allens West Yarm Depot Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line Eaglescliffe Castle Eden Railway to Wellfield Durham Coast Line to Hartlepool Stockton Surtees Rail Bridge over River Tees Thornaby Tees Marshalling Yard  A19  Tees Newport Bridge Newport Tees Riverside Intermodal Terminal Middlesbrough Esk Valley Line Cargo Fleet Cleveland Port Normanby Wharf Cleveland Railway Eston (2nd) South Bank Eston (1st) Eston mines branch Grangetown Teesside Steelworks (Lackenby) Lackenby Teesport Lazenby into Wilton International Redcar Bulk Terminal Warrenby Halt Redcar British Steel Teesside Steelworks (Redcar) Redcar (1st) Redcar Central Redcar East Longbeck Marske Saltburn West Junction Boulby line Saltburn

The route serves the following stations:

Point	Coordinates (Links to map resources)	OS Grid Ref	Notes
Bishop Auckland	54.6572°N 1.678°W / 54.6572; -1.678 (Bishop Auckland Station)	NZ20872917
Shildon	54.6262°N 1.6367°W / 54.6262; -1.6367 (Shildon Station)	NZ23552573
Newton Aycliffe	54.6137°N 1.5897°W / 54.6137; -1.5897 (Newton Aycliffe Station)	NZ26592435
Heighington	54.5971°N 1.5818°W / 54.5971; -1.5818 (Heighington Station)	NZ27112251
North Road	54.5357°N 1.5537°W / 54.5357; -1.5537 (North Road Station)	NZ28971569
Darlington	54.5207°N 1.5467°W / 54.5207; -1.5467 (Darlington Station)	NZ29441402
Dinsdale	54.5150°N 1.4671°W / 54.5150; -1.4671 (Dinsdale Station)	NZ34591343
Teesside Airport	54.5185°N 1.4253°W / 54.5185; -1.4253 (Teesside Airport Station)	NZ37301384
Allens West	54.5246°N 1.3616°W / 54.5246; -1.3616 (Allens West Station)	NZ41411455
Eaglescliffe	54.5301°N 1.3497°W / 54.5301; -1.3497 (Eaglescliffe Station)	NZ42181517
Thornaby	54.5592°N 1.302°W / 54.5592; -1.302 (Thornaby Station)	NZ45231844
Middlesbrough	54.5791°N 1.2345°W / 54.5791; -1.2345 (Middlesbrough Station)	NZ49572070
Cargo Fleet	54.577°N 1.2094°W / 54.577; -1.2094 (Cargo Fleet Station (Closed 1990))	NZ51202048	Closed 1990
South Bank	54.5840°N 1.1763°W / 54.5840; -1.1763 (South Bank Station)	NZ53332128
Grangetown	54.5885°N 1.1521°W / 54.5885; -1.1521 (Grangetown Station (Closed 1991))	NZ54892180	Closed 1991
Warrenby Halt	54.6156°N 1.1135°W / 54.6156; -1.1135 (Warrenby Halt (Closed 1978))	NZ57342485	Closed 1978
Redcar British Steel	54.6098°N 1.1126°W / 54.6098; -1.1126 (Redcar British Steel Station (Suspended 2019))	NZ57412421	Suspended 2019
Redcar Central	54.6160°N 1.0703°W / 54.6160; -1.0703 (Redcar Central Station)	NZ60132493
Redcar East	54.6091°N 1.05193°W / 54.6091; -1.05193 (Redcar East Station)	NZ61332418
Longbeck	54.5893°N 1.0310°W / 54.5893; -1.0310 (Longbeck Station)	NZ62712199
Marske	54.5874°N 1.0195°W / 54.5874; -1.0195 (Marske Station)	NZ63462179
Saltburn	54.5834°N 0.9752°W / 54.5834; -0.9752 (Saltburn Station)	NZ66332139
Zetland Hotel platform	54.5837°N 0.9715°W / 54.5837; -0.9715 (Zetland Hotel platform (Closed 1983))	NZ66562143	Closed 1983

Least-used stations

In 2019, the Tees Valley Line was home to two of the country's least-used railway stations.

Redcar British Steel

In 2017-18, Redcar British Steel was the least-used station in Great Britain, with an estimated 40 passenger journeys made.

Prior to service suspension in December 2019, it was served by two trains during the morning peak and two during the evening peak.

Teesside Airport

In 2012–13 and 2013–14, Teesside Airport was the least-used station in the country, with just eight passenger journeys made in both periods.

It is currently served by a once-weekly parliamentary service; a Sunday service, commencing at Hartlepool, calls here before continuing through to Darlington.

In 2020/21, due to decreased travel throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the station saw only two passenger journeys made. While remaining officially open, the station has seen its service suspended since May 2022, with the one operational platform condemned as unsafe. As a result, there were only 2 passengers in the year beginning April 2022.

References

1. "Delivering a better railway for a better Britain: Route Specifications 2019 London North Eastern and East Midlands" (PDF). Network Rail. April 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
2. "The Stockton Railway". This is Stockton on Tees. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
3. "Welcome to the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership website". Bishop Line. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
4. "Weardale Railway trust | Stanhope | The Weardale Railway Trust". weardale-railway. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
5. "Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
6. Hitachi Rail Europe's Newton Aycliffe factory connected to national rail network The Journal 25 March 2015
7. Newton Aycliffe's Hitachi train plant connected to main line BBC News 25 March 2015
8. "Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern". Northern Railway. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
9. "Timetables". TransPennine Express. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
10. "Our timetables". LNER. 2 June 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
11. "Northern launches North East's first fully refurbished train". Northern News. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
12. "Northern's refurbished trains – creating jobs and boosting the economy". Northern News. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
13. "Northern's train refurbishment nears completion | Northern". www.northernrailway.co.uk. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
14. "Brighter bigger better A modern makeover for our trains". www.tpexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
15. "Northern retires first Pacer train". Northern News. Retrieved 3 March 2020.

External links

• GenMaps - Maps of Durham, Yorkshire 1885
• NPEMaps - Maps of area circa 1950
• Network Rail maps of Route 9 - North East Routes
• North Eastern Railway Tour 2000
• Communigate - Grangetown streets and buildings
• The Bishop Line