Tees Valley line

The Tees Valley Line is a railway line located in the north of England, and follows, in part, the original route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, dating back to 1825.[2]

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

Tees Valley Line
A Northern Rail Class 142 Pacer, seen in July 2011, approaching Longbeck, with a service to Darlington.
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	County Durham North Yorkshire Teesside
Termini	Bishop Auckland Saltburn
Stations	18
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Northern Trains TransPennine Express
Rolling stock	Class 156 Class 158 Class 185
Technical
Track length	38 miles (61 km)[1]
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

Tees Valley line
Weardale Railway to Stanhope Durham to Bishop Auckland Line to Durham Bishop Auckland South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway to Barnard Castle Clarence Railway to Ferryhill Shildon Tunnel Shildon Stockton & Darlington Railway to Brussleton Lane & Collieries Shildon Sidings Newton Aycliffe Clarence Railway to Stillington Heighington Hitachi Newton Aycliffe A1(M) Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway to Barnard Castle North Road East Coast Main Line to Newcastle Darlington East Coast Main Line to York Fighting Cocks (closed 1964) Dinsdale Teesside Airport Allens West Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line to Northallerton Eaglescliffe Durham Coast Line to Hartlepool Surtees Rail Bridge over River Tees Thornaby Tees Marshalling Yard Newport (closed 1915) Middlesbrough Esk Valley Line to Battersby Cargo Fleet (closed 1990) Normanby Wharf Eston (1st station; closed 1885) Eston (3rd station; 1902-1966) Cleveland Railway to Ironstone mines & Brotton Eston mines branch to Ironstone mines South Bank Grangetown (closed 1991) Lackenby (closed 1864) Teesport Lazenby (closed 1871) Warrenby Halt (closed 1978) Redcar British Steel (service suspended 2019) Tata Steel Europe Redcar (1st station; closed 1861) Redcar Central Redcar East Longbeck Marske Saltburn West Junction Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway to Boulby Mine Saltburn

The line covers a distance of 38 miles (61 km), and links Bishop Auckland and Darlington with Middlesbrough, the Tees Valley and Saltburn.

The section of line between Darlington and Bishop Auckland has been re-branded The Bishop Line, and is supported by the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership.[3]

Beyond Bishop Auckland, heritage services serve a line of around 16 miles (26 km) towards Frosterley and Stanhope, as part of the Weardale Railway.[4]

Service

Services on the Tees Valley Line are operated by Northern Trains, with an hourly service running between Saltburn and Bishop Auckland, and half-hourly trains to Darlington.

Additional Northern Trains 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.[5]

TransPennine Express also operate along part of the Tees Valley Line, with hourly services from Redcar Central and Middlesbrough to York, Leeds and Manchester Airport.[6]

Predominantly, rolling stock on the Tees Valley Line consists of Class 156 and Class 158 diesel multiple units operated by [[Northern Trains], as well Class 185 diesel multiple units operated by TransPennine Express.

The Class 156 and 158 units operating on the Tees Valley Line are currently in the process of being refurbished, with upgrades including free WiFi, power sockets, on-board passenger information displays, and an interior refresh.[7][8]

Class 185 units operated by TransPennine Express were refurbished as part of a £32 million investment, with the work being completed in 2018.[9]

Class 142 'Pacer' trains also served the line on Northern services, until the turn of the new decade, when they were withdrawn from passenger service.[10]

The route serves the following stations: Bishop Auckland, Shildon, Newton Aycliffe, Heighington, North Road (Darlington), Darlington, Dinsdale, Teesside Airport, Allens West, Eaglescliffe, Thornaby, Middlesbrough, South Bank, Redcar Central, Redcar East, Longbeck, Marske and Saltburn.

History

The section of line between Bishop Auckland and Darlington (prior to joining the East Coast Main Line), as well as the section between Dinsdale (near Middleton St. George) and Eaglescliffe, follow the original route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which dates back to 1825.[2]

The line from Middlesbrough to Saltburn, as well as the freight only line to Boulby Mine, were part of the Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway, until the line's closure on 5 May 1958.[11]

In March 2015, a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) section of electrified track was laid to the west of the Tees Valley Line, south of Heighington. This is to allow low-speed testing of the Class 800 and 801s being built at Hitachi, which is located near to Newton Aycliffe.[12][13]

• 
  A pre-Beeching rail network map of routes in and around the Tees Valley.

Least-used stations

Prior to the suspension of services to Redcar British Steel in 2019, the Tees Valley Line was home to two of the country's least used rail stations.

Redcar British Steel

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

Prior to service suspension in December 2019, Redcar British Steel was served by two trains during the morning peak (07:57 to Bishop Auckland & 08:25 to Saltburn), and two during the evening peak (16:58 to Middlesbrough & 18:17 to Saltburn).

Teesside Airport

In 2012-13 and 2013-14, Teesside Airport was the least used station in the country, with just 8 passenger journeys made per year, in both periods.

As of the December 2019 timetable change, Teesside Airport is currently served by a once-weekly parliamentary service. Currently, the single Sunday service, commencing from Hartlepool, is timetabled to call at Teesside Airport at 14:54, before continuing through to Darlington.

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. Home Bishop Line
4. "Weardale Railway trust | Stanhope | The Weardale Railway Trust". weardale-railway. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
5. "Timetables | Northern". www.northernrailway.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
6. "Timetables | Download timetables | First TransPennine Express". www.tpexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
7. "Northern launches North East's first fully refurbished train". Northern News. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
8. "Northern's refurbished trains – creating jobs and boosting the economy". Northern News. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
9. "Brighter bigger better A modern makeover for our trains". www.tpexpress.co.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
10. "Northern retires first Pacer train". Northern News. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
11. "Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway". www.gracesguide.co.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
12. Hitachi Rail Europe's Newton Aycliffe factory connected to national rail network The Journal 25 March 2015
13. Newton Aycliffe's Hitachi train plant connected to main line BBC News 25 March 2015

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