Teesside railway station granted £1.6m for “major improvements”

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has signed off £1.6m of funding to kick-start work on “major improvements” at Eaglescliffe railway station.

Eaglescliffe is a key station linking the region to both local and national destinations, with a half-hourly service between Darlington and Saltburn, hourly connections to Bishop Auckland, plus Grand Central’s route to London, which currently runs four times a day.

The project will create a new western access to the station on land adjacent to Durham Lane Industrial Estate, including a car park made up of around 120 spaces and a fully accessible pedestrian footbridge replacing the existing footbridge. Completion of these changes is scheduled for 2023.

The scheme is being backed by up to £8.5m of funding from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority, with further funding and support from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and Network Rail.

The announcement comes following Government confirmation that the region will receive £310m to transform the transport network funding schemes across all types of transport, from road to rail, buses to cycling, including upgrades to Middlesbrough and Darlington stations.

Mayor Houchen said: “This vital funding will help deliver the final part of the preparatory work so that we can get spades into the ground in the new year and open up much-needed access from the west.

“It will also benefit those local people living practically metres away from their nearest station but are in the silly situation of having to take a ten-minute drive or wait for a connection from Allen’s West to use Eaglescliffe’s national services.

Councillor Bob Cook, Leader of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, said: “Earlier this year the Council purchased a 26-hectacre site at Durham Lane in Eaglescliffe to help protect what is a key employment site in the Borough.

“Eaglescliffe is already home to lots of great firms and businesses like Tata Global Beverages, Returnable Packaging Services and Nifco – and we’re in a really strong position to attract more businesses.”