Hartlepool is a railway station on the

Durham Coast Line The Durham Coast Line is an approximately railway line running between Newcastle and in North East England. Heavy rail passenger services, predominantly operated Northern Trains, and some freight services operate over the whole length of the li ...

, which runs between

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 ...

and

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 ...

via Hartlepool. The station, situated south-east of Sunderland, serves the

port town A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

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 ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, 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 Stockton and Hartlepool Railway, which connected the town of

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed in ...

with the

Clarence Railway The Clarence Railway was an early railway company that operated in north-east England between 1833 and 1853. The railway was built to take coal from mines in County Durham to ports on the River Tees and was a competitor to the Stockton and Darli ...

near , was opened for goods on 12 November 1839 and to passengers on 1 December 1839. A station named ''Hartlepool West'' was opened on 9 February 1841; this was renamed ''West Hartlepool'' in February 1848, and closed on 3 May 1880 when it was replaced by a new West Hartlepool station. This in turn was renamed ''Hartlepool'' on 26 April 1967, when

was merged with

and following the complete closure of the former Hartlepool Dock & Railway station in the

Headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, John ...

, previously known as ''Hartlepool'', in 1964. The station has two platforms currently in use: a bi-directionally signalled through platform (the original down platform), used by almost all timetabled services and a south-facing bay platform (with only one weekly booked departure). The former up platform 1 has been disused since the footbridge linking the platforms was removed in the late 1990s. In August 2013 Grand Central proposed reopening the disused up platform as part of its track access application extension although they never implemented this proposal. In September 2020,

Tees Valley Combined Authority The Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) is the combined authority for the Tees Valley urban area in England consisting of the following five unitary authorities: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees ...

launched a £1.5 million study to investigate the feasibility of a similar scheme to reopen the former up platform so as to improve capacity through the station. In March 2022, it was announced that funding had been secured to bring the old platform back into use, with a new footbridge and lifts installed, by June 2023. This is the only station on the route to have only one through platform. Trains travelling to and from Newcastle and Middlesbrough have to wait if there is another train in the station coming out in the other direction before they can go in. Between November 2009 and August 2010 (ahead of the town hosting the

Tall Ships' Races The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and c ...

), the station was extensively refurbished as part of a £4 million scheme to improve station facilities and integrate it into the new Hartlepool Interchange. The line through the station was also re-signalled in spring 2010 as part of the Durham Coast modernisation scheme, with the consequent loss of three manual signal boxes in and around the station. A new waiting room was also added to the station in 2011.

Facilities

The station has a staffed ticket office, which is open from 07:25 to 18:20 Mondays through Saturdays (closed Sundays). A self-service ticket machine is also provided near the station entrance for use when the ticket office is closed and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Ticket barriers have been operation at the station since September 2017. Train running information is offered via automatic announcements, digital display screens and timetable posters. There are toilets in the ticket office and a waiting room on the concourse, along with vending machines dispensing snacks and cold drinks. Step-free access is available from the entrance to the platforms.

Services

Grand Central

As of the June 2021 timetable change, there are four trains per day heading south towards London King's Cross 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 ...

. Heading north towards

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, there are five trains per day on weekdays, with four and three trains per day on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Rolling stock used: Class 180 ''Adelante''

Northern Trains

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

and

. Most trains continue to

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

(or

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

on Sunday) and

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 anci ...

. Two trains per day (three on Sunday) continue to

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 ...

. Two trains operate between Hartlepool 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 ...

on Sunday, one of which operates the once-weekly

parliamentary service A parliamentary train was a passenger service operated in the United Kingdom to comply with the Railway Regulation Act 1844 that required train companies to provide inexpensive and basic rail transport for less affluent passengers. The act req ...

Teesside Airport Teesside International Airport , previously Durham Tees Valley Airport, is an international airport located between Darlington and Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It is about south-west of Middlesbrough. The airport serves the North East ...

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

References

External links

{{Railway stations served by Grand Central Railway stations in the Borough of Hartlepool Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1841 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1880 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1880 Railway stations served by Grand Central Railway Northern franchise railway stations Buildings and structures in Hartlepool DfT Category D stations