Mayor to bring forward £45m Tees Valley rail investments

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen is set to bring a £45m rail investment plan forward in the Combined Authority Cabinet’s November meeting.

The funding request will provide a £25m boost for Darlington station and £20m for a full redevelopment of Middlesbrough station.

Mayor Houchen has pledged to finance the two schemes from the Transforming Cities Fund devolved to the area from the Government.

The Fund was topped up to £75.5m in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget last month.

The works in Darlington will deliver a major transformation of the station, addressing key rail infrastructure issues currently limiting capacity.

New platforms will be introduced along with improved track layout and signalling infrastructure, as well as station improvements such as a new bridge, improved western entrance, new eastern entrance and enhanced passenger facilities.

Once complete in 2023, the upgraded station will increase capacity across the area to provide faster, more frequent and better services for people in the Tees Valley.

The revamp would also enable Darlington station to receive the new HS2 trains.

The Mayor signed off £3m in June to start the necessary work for the preparation of a bid to Government. That bid, to fund the remainder of the estimated £120m project, will be submitted in early 2019.

Ben Houchen said: “The redevelopment of Darlington station is a project of national significance to relieve pressures on the East Coast Main Line and improve services on our local line too. That’s why I am committing £25m to the project, but I’m clear that Government will also need to cough up to fund the rest.

“The importance and benefits of these two schemes cannot be understated. The people of the Tees Valley rightly demand high-quality rail links connecting them with the whole region and the rest of the country“

“Our proposed scheme to transform Darlington station would cut journey times, improve regional transport links and give visitors an incredible welcome to the area.”

He continued: “Government ministers are very much aware that this is one of my top transport priorities for the region, and I’ll continue to do all I can to push the case to ensure the rest of our plans for Darlington station are funded.”

In Middlesbrough, the £20m needed to fully fund the station redevelopment could dramatically enhance the existing facilities and make it ready to handle direct trains to London.

As part of the plan, a new glass frontage and concourse on Bridge Street would be built, in addition to a commercial unit alongside a third platform. The station under-croft would also be brought back into use as new business space.

It follows a warning from the Mayor earlier this year that Middlesbrough station’s existing platforms are not big enough to handle the new Class 800 Azuma trains, which will run from early next year on the East Coast Main Line.

If signed off by the Combined Authority Cabinet on November 30, work will start on Middlesbrough station in early 2019 for completion in 2022.

Mayor Houchen continued: “I am proposing to use over half of the £75m transport fund devolved to our area from government to finance the redevelopment of Darlington and Middlesbrough stations.

“The importance and benefits of these two schemes cannot be understated. The people of the Tees Valley rightly demand high-quality rail links connecting them with the whole region and the rest of the country. If we do not make these important investments now, it is hard to see how these critical upgrades can go ahead.”

He added: “For years we’ve seen nothing but empty promises and CGI images from local politicians, but now we’re putting our money where our mouth it. With the money devolved to our area because we have a Mayor, we can finally start investing in our rail infrastructure.”