This article is about the current main Darlington station. For the original station site in Darlington, see North Road railway station. For the former SEPTA regional rail station, see Darlington station (SEPTA).
Darlington railway station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line, serving the town of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is 232 miles 50 chains (232.63 miles; 374.37 kilometres) north of London King's Cross. It is situated between Northallerton to the south and Durham to the north. Its three-letter station code is DAR.
The first railway to pass through the area now occupied by the station was built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which opened their mineral branch from Albert Hill Junction on their main line to Croft-on-Tees on 27 October 1829. This branch line was subsequently purchased by the Great North of England Railway a decade later to incorporate into their new main line from York, which reached the town on 30 March 1841.
A separate company, the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway continued the new main line northwards towards Ferryhill and Newcastle, opening its route three years later on 19 June 1844.[3] 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 (NER) and London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
The original Bank Top station, where the two routes met, was a modest affair; it 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 at Oak Tree Junction near Dinsdale. These improvements were completed on 1 July 1887, when the old route west of Oak Tree closed to passengers; it remained in use for freight until 1967.
The new station, with its broad island platform, was designed by T. E. Harrison, chief engineer, and William Bell, the architect of the NER.[4] It cost £81,000 (equivalent to £11,380,000 in 2023)[5] to construct.[6] It soon became a busy interchange on the main East Coast route, thanks to its rail links to Richmond (opened in 1846), Barnard Castle and Penrith (1862/5) and the Tees Valley Line to Bishop Auckland (1842) and Saltburn (1861).
The lines to Penrith (closed in 1962), Barnard Castle (1964)[7] and Richmond (1969) have now gone, along with the bays at the northern end of the station which are now used for car parking. The main line, which was electrified in 1991, and the Tees Valley route remain busy. It is also still possible to travel to Catterick Garrison and Richmond from here, by means of the Arriva North East-operated X26 and X27 buses, which have through National Rail ticketing arrangements. The same company also operated the Sky Express bus service to Durham Tees Valley Airport from the station, but this was withdrawn in January 2009 due to declining demand.[8]
Tees Valley Metro
Transit diagram showcasing all discussed or mentioned ideas for the Tees Valley Metro.
Starting in 2006, Darlington was mentioned within the Tees Valley Metro scheme. This was a plan 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 across the North East of England. In the initial phases the services would have been heavy rail mostly along existing alignments with new additional infrastructure and rollingstock. The later phase would have introduced tram-trains to allow street running and further heavy rail extensions,[9][10][11] and there was suggestions to have the metro extend west to Bishop Auckland from Darlington.[12]
Darlington was a major part of the scheme and so had some of the largest proposed improvements. To reduce the need for local services to cross the East Coast Main Line, two new eastern platforms would have been created.[13] The new platforms would be connected to the main building by a new footbridge and lifts, and the existing car parking places that would have been lost with the new platforms would be replaced at a similar distance from the station. A new entrance, including pick-up/drop-off facilities, was considered on the eastern side.[9] Furthermore, release of track capacity on the ECML to allow more trains to run from Darlington to York and Newcastle and improved service to Saltburn (1–2 to 4 trains per hour) and new rollingstock were proposed.[9] While unclear and never having concrete plans, street-running trams to Darlington town centre were also proposed in a future phase of the Metro.[12]
However, due to a change in government in 2010 and the 2008 financial crisis, the project was ultimately shelved.[14] Several stations eventually got their improvements and there is a possibility of improved rollingstock and services in the future which may affect Darlington.[15]
Accidents and incidents
On 16 November 1910, an express freight train overran signals and was involved in a rear-end collision with another freight train.[16]
On 11 December 1968, a Newcastle to Kings Cross express train was derailed at the south end of the station after passing a signal at danger. No-one was hurt.[18]
On 16 February 1977, an express passenger train hauled by Class 55 locomotive 55008 collided with an empty stock train after failing to stop at Darlington. The guard of the express was slightly injured. The cause of the accident was that the brakes on the carriages had become isolated whilst the train was moving in a freak event. The train had struck an object on the track, which had caused a traction motor cover to come lose. This struck the handle of the brake isolating cock, closing it and thus separating the brakes between the locomotive and train. Following the collision, the train was diverted onto the Tees Valley line, where it was brought to a halt by the operation of the communication cord in one of the carriages.[19]
On 3 October 2009, a Class 142 unit, operated by Northern Rail, 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.[20][21]
Facilities
The station's clock tower
The station is fully staffed; the ticket office is open throughout the week (06:00–20:00/21:00 weekdays, 06:30–19:45 Saturdays, 07:45–20:00 Sundays). There is a waiting room and a first class lounge on the platform, with the lounge open between 06:00 and 20:00 each day; on Sundays, it opens at 08:00.
Self-service ticket machines are also provided for use outside the opening hours for the booking office and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Various retail outlets are located in the main buildings, including a coffee shop, grocers and newsagents. Vending machines, toilets, a photo booth, payphone and cash machines are also provided.
Train running information is offered via digital CIS displays, announcements and timetable posters. Step-free access to all platforms is via ramps from the subway, linking the platforms with the main entrance and car park.[22]
Darlington railway station has five main platforms:
Platform 1: This is the main southbound platform with, in order of frequency: London North Eastern Railway services to York and London King's Cross; CrossCountry services to Reading or Birmingham and Plymouth, via York and Leeds; TransPennine Express services to Manchester Victoria and 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 services terminating at Darlington from Saltburn and Middlesbrough. Platform 2 is used most frequently. TransPennine Express trains also terminate in platforms 2 and 3 when there are delays in order to allow them to run their southbound services back on time.
Platform 4: This is the main northbound platform with, in order of frequency: London North Eastern Railway services to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow; CrossCountry services to Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow; TransPennine Express services to Newcastle; and Northern services to Bishop Auckland.
Platform 4a: This is a southern extension of platform four, catering for trains waiting at Darlington so 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 services for Bishop Auckland. Since the introduction of Class 802, TransPennine Express use platform 4a if they need to terminate early whilst using one of these trains due to platforms 2 and 3 not being electrified.
Future
HS2 trains were originally planned to stop at Darlington as part of the eastern leg, but phase 2b was cancelled as part of the Integrated Rail Plan; the entirety of the second phase of HS2 was cancelled in 2023.[28]
As at 2024, the station is undergoing redevelopment with many features of the abandoned Tees Valley Metro plan being resurrected. There is the construction of a new concourse, multi-storey car park and two new platforms on the current freight avoiding lines.[29][30]
^ abStations in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees are considered part of North East England, while stations in the unitary areas of York and North Yorkshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber.
^Stations in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire are considered part of Yorkshire and the Humber, while all other stations are considered part of the East Midlands.
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