Seaham 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

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 ' ...

Seaham Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and ...

in County Durham, 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 publicly owned train operating company in England. It is owned by DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT), after the previous operator Arriva Rail N ...

History

The first railway route into the town, the Seaham and Sunderland Railway, was built as a means of exporting coal from nearby collieries owned by the Marquess of Londonderry. It opened in 1854, and ran from

Seaham Harbour Seaham is a seaside town in County Durham, England. Located on the Durham Coast, Seaham is situated south of Sunderland and east of Durham. The town grew from the late 19th century onwards as a result of investments in its harbour and co ...

to Ryhope Grange, near Sunderland, where it joined with the North Eastern Railway. The station was opened to passengers by the Londonderry, Seaham and Sunderland Railway on 2 July 1855, and was originally known as ''Seaham Colliery''. In 1900, the North Eastern Railway purchased the line. To create a new coastal route between Sunderland, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, the line was extended south along the coast, with the section between Seaham and to opening on 1 April 1905. Upon the opening of the line, a new through station (current station) was constructed. On 1 March 1925, the (current) station was renamed from ''Seaham Colliery'' to ''Seaham''. On the same day, the nearby harbour station was renamed from ''Seaham'' to ''Seaham Harbour'', closing to passengers fourteen years later, on 11 September 1939.

Facilities

The station facilities were improved during the 2010s to include fully lit waiting shelters and CCTV. The long-line Public Address system (PA) was renewed and upgraded with pre-recorded announcements. The station is unstaffed, but a self-service ticket machine is provided on the northbound platform to allow passengers to buy tickets before boarding or to collect pre-paid tickets. Train running information is offered via timetable posters, digital CIS displays and automatic announcements. Step-free access is available to both platforms.

Services

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

and

. Most trains continue to Hexham (or Carlisle 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 ...

. All services are operated by

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

References

Sources

* *

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Railway stations in County Durham DfT Category F1 stations Former North Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1855 Northern franchise railway stations Seaham