Middlesbrough 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 ...

, Esk Valley Line and

Tees Valley Line The Tees Valley Line is a rail route, in Northern England, following part of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway route of 1825. The line covers a distance of , and connects to via , and 14 other stations in the Teesdale. The secti ...

. The station serves the town of

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 ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, 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 len ...

and managed by

TransPennine Express TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major ci ...

. According to the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

statistics, Middlesbrough railway station is the fourth busiest in the North East region, with 1,210,906 total entries and exits (2021–22 period).

History

The first railway line was opened in the area as long ago as December 1830, as an extension 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 Darli ...

, to connect with the port of the (then new) town of

. From the opening of the line until 1837, passengers were served by a wooden shed on the route to the riverside coal staithes. The line was extended to the new exchange along Commercial Street in 1837, with a new station being constructed two years later. This new, more substantial station was opened by the S&DR in 1839. In June 1846, a branch line extending eastwards from the Stockton and Darlington Railway towards

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 populatio ...

was opened by the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway. Situated on the Redcar branch line on the southern edge of the new town, a new passenger station was designed by John Middleton, which opened on 26 July 1847. As the town expanded rapidly southwards during the second half of the nineteenth century, the station was unable to cope with the increased traffic. Due to the design of the station not lending itself to expansion, it was subsequently demolished in 1874. It was replaced by the current, much larger station, which opened in December 1877. The Commercial Street station, becoming increasingly isolated from the town by the opening of the Redcar branch line, became a goods station, before eventually being demolished. The current station was designed by the North Eastern Railway's chief architect, William Peachey, with an ornate

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style frontage. Behind this, an overall roof of elliptical design once existed. Constructed out of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

of lattice design, with glass covering the middle half, and timber (inside) and slate (outside) covering the outer quarters. The two end screens were glazed with timber cladding around the outer edges. The roof was high in relation to its width. The elliptical roof was severely damaged in a German daylight air raid, which took place on the afternoon of 3 August 1942. It was eventually removed in 1954, to be replaced by the current design over the concourse and platforms. A major refurbishment of the station took place during 2017 and 2018, with repairs carried out to the station's roof and stonework, as well as the upgrading of the Wood Street car park. New information screens were also installed as part of the refurbishment. As part of a major upgrade to the station, platform 2 was extended in the first half of 2021, allowing for a new direct service from Middlesbrough to

London King's Cross King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United Kin ...

. On 13 December 2021, a

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Fou ...

Class 800 ''Azuma'' departed from the station at 07:08am, the first direct service to the capital since 1988.

Facilities

Middlesbrough station booking office (geograph 5469195)

The main station layout consists of an entrance hall with ticket office, large concourse/waiting area and two covered platforms that are each subdivided into two sections. Platform 1 is divided into two sub-platforms (1a and 1b), as is platform 2 (2a and 2b). Two freight lines bypass to the north of the station. The station is staffed and has a range of facilities including a cafe/bar,

newsagent's shop A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of loca ...

, cycle storage, toilets and lifts. A number of information screens throughout the station provide information on train arrivals and departures. Car parking is situated to the east of the station and can be accessed via Exchange Square and Wood Street, and by footpath directly to the station. A drop-off point is located at the front of the station, close to the main entrance.

Future

As part of a £34 million redevelopment plan to improve the overall layout of the station, existing buildings are being revamped including the undercroft and ticket office area, refurbishment of the existing stonework is taking place and the station main entrance is to be relocated. New station offices and staircases are included in the plans with a proposed completion date of July 2023. A new platform 3 is also planned to be built to the north of platform 2 fronting onto Bridge Street West, giving the station increased capacity to accommodate more trains.

Services

London North Eastern Railway

As of the December 2021 timetable change,

operate a once per weekday return service to

, calling at

Thornaby Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,74 ...

and

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 ...

. More services are planned following the completion of station works. Rolling stock used: Class 800 ''Azuma''

Northern Trains

Durham Coast Line

As of the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by an hourly service 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. Most trains continue to

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and 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 nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

(or

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril. It is the administrative centre of the City ...

on Sunday) and Nunthorpe. 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 Cl ...

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

Esk Valley Line

Following the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by an hourly service between Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe, with two trains per day (excluding Sunday) continuing to

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 Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on ...

, and six per day (four on Sunday) continuing to

. Most trains continue to

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 D ...

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

Tees Valley Line

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

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 Ridin ...

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 underw ...

via Middlesbrough, 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 surr ...

. 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 December 2022 timetable change, the station is served by an hourly service between

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 ...

via

. Most services run via Yarm, with the exception of one early morning arrival which travels via Darlington. Rolling stock used: Class 185 ''Desiro''

Gallery

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway Railway stations in Middlesbrough Grade II listed railway stations Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1877 Railway stations served by TransPennine Express Northern franchise railway stations John Middleton railway stations William Peachey railway stations DfT Category C1 stations Railway stations served by London North Eastern Railway