Redcar Central is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated east of Middlesbrough, serves the

seaside town A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German ' ...

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of ...

, Redcar and Cleveland in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. It is owned by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, branded as Northern, (legally Northern Trains Limited) is a State-owned enterprises of the United Kingdom, publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

History

The line into the town from the west was opened as the

Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway The North Eastern Railway (NER) was an England, English rail transport, railway company. It was incorporated in 1854 by the combination of several existing railway companies. Later, it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and ...

on 5 June 1846. The company that constructed it was nominally independent, but in reality was backed financially by the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...

and the Great North of England Railway, one of the constituent companies of the North Eastern Railway. The Stockton and Darlington Railway had formally taken over by the time an extension eastwards to

Saltburn Saltburn-by-the-Sea, commonly referred to as Saltburn, is a seaside town in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England, around south-east of Hartlepool and southeast of Redcar. It lies within the historic boundaries of the North Rid ...

was completed in August 1861. The route diverged from the original line just short of the existing terminus, part of which remained in use for goods traffic, and a new through station had to be constructed. This was built in a similar style to that used by

G.T. Andrews George Townsend Andrews (19 December 1804 – 29 December 1855) was an English architect born in Exeter. He is noted for his buildings designed for George Hudson's railways, especially the York and North Midland Railway. Andrews' architect's ...

elsewhere on the North Eastern Railway, with an impressive frontage and overall roof. Initially, the station had only a single platform which led to congestion issues and delays during the summer months, when traffic levels were at their heaviest. A second platform outside the train shed was eventually provided for westbound services by the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

in 1935. Today, the original train shed is no longer used, with a replacement eastbound platform having been constructed alongside it at the end of the 1980s. The level crossing here utilised motorised wooden boom gates that swung out across the road for many years, but these latterly became increasingly unreliable and prone to failure in high winds. In 2015,

replaced these with telescopic metal gates — a design unique to this particular location.

Facilities

Redcar Central has a staffed ticket office, open Monday to Saturday (07:50–14:45) but not on Sunday. A self-service ticket machine is available for use outside these hours or for collecting pre-paid tickets. There is also a waiting room that is open Monday to Saturday - these are both on the southern side (platform 1). Platform 2 has a shelter, timetable poster boards and bench seating. Platform 1 is further west than platform 2 and there is a bridge over the track which connects the two. There is a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

over one of the major roads into Redcar at the end of platform 1 which can also be used to cross over the track. Nearby is the Redcar Station

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

closed since 2016 and in bad disrepair that was the old train shed. Station facilities here were improved in 2013. The package for this station included improved platform lighting, renewed station signage, digital information screens and the installation of CCTV. The long-line Public Address system (PA) has been renewed and upgraded with pre-recorded train announcements. Step-free access is available to both sides.

Services

Northern Trains

As of the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by two trains per hour between

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

via

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, with one train per hour extending to

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

. An hourly service operates between Saltburn and Bishop Auckland on Sunday. Rolling stock used: Class 156 ''Super Sprinter'' and Class 158 ''Express Sprinter''

TransPennine Express

As of the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by an hourly service between Redcar Central and

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...

via

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. Most services run via

Yarm Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements ne ...

, with the exception of one early morning arrival which travels via Darlington. From December 2022 (delayed from May 2022) this service will be extended to and will terminate at Saltburn. Rolling stock used: Class 185 ''Desiro''

References

Sources

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by TransPennine Express Railway stations in Redcar and Cleveland DfT Category E stations Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Northern franchise railway stations Railway stations served by TransPennine Express Redcar 1846 establishments in England