Great Ayton is a railway station on the Esk Valley Line, which runs between

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 ...

and

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

via

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the village of Great Ayton and formerly part of the Ayton ancient ...

. The station, situated south-east of Middlesbrough, serves the village of

Great Ayton Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees) flows through the village, which lies just north of the North York Moors. Etymology Great Ayton's ...

, Hambleton 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

On 1 June 1864, the North Eastern Railway opened a short line which linked , on their route between Picton and , with on the

Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway The Middlesbrough & Guisborough Railway (M&G) was a railway line serving the towns of Middlesbrough and Guisborough as well as areas of the Eston Hills in North Yorkshire from 1853 to 1964 when the Guisborough terminus closed. More than half t ...

– a subsidiary of 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 ...

. This link line was initially used solely by mineral trains. Passenger trains along the route began four years later, and a station at ''Great Ayton'' was opened on 1 April 1868. The station is on the single track rail line between and and there are only a few trains per day. The goods yard at the station closed down in July 1965 along with many other stations on the Esk Valley line. Until the 1950s, trains used to run from the station to

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England, formerly a part of the historic North Riding of Yorkshire. It lies on the River Leven. An electoral ward, of the same name, stretches north to ...

, Whitby Town and but only the latter two destinations are now served. Next to Great Ayton station is the village garage and towing service. The station had, until 1934, a full station building complete with booking office and waiting room, this however was demolished to save costs.

Services

As of the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by five trains per day (four on Sunday) towards

, with two trains per day (Monday to Saturday) running as far as

Battersby Battersby is a village in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, south east of Middlesbrough. See also *Battersby railway statio ...

. Heading towards

via

, there are seven trains per day (four on Sunday). Most trains continue to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

via

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

. All services are operated by

. Rolling stock used: Class 156 ''Super Sprinter'' and Class 158 ''Express Sprinter''

References

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Railway stations in North Yorkshire DfT Category F2 stations Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868 Northern franchise railway stations