Chester-le-Street railway station

The Team Valley line of the North Eastern Railway, which connected Newton Hall Junction near Durham with Gateshead, was authorised in 1848 but not opened until 2 March 1868 (the powers having been renewed in 1862). At first only freight trains used the route, but passenger services began on 1 December 1868,[1] and the station at Chester-le-Street opened the same day.[2]

In the 1960s, the station was listed for closure as part of the Beeching cuts,[3] which led to it being mentioned in the song Slow Train by Flanders and Swann. However it was saved and remains open.

Route 2: Durham Coast Line
Newcastle Heworth Sunderland Seaham Horden Hartlepool Seaton Carew Billingham Stockton Thornaby Middlesbrough
Most services extend to/from Hexham or Nunthorpe.

Mondays to Saturdays there is a mostly two-hourly TransPennine Express service from Chester-le-Street, northbound to Newcastle and southbound to Durham, Darlington, York, Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Liverpool Lime Street.[4] Most services run to and from Liverpool since the May 2014 timetable change, though certain early morning trains come from Manchester Airport. On Sundays there is also a two-hourly service in each direction.

The station also has a very limited service provided by other operators. CrossCountry have a single service to Southampton Central calling in the evening peak, and Northern have three a.m northbound services to Newcastle calling on weekdays & two on Saturdays (from Middlesbrough and Saltburn) and one late night weekday southbound service to Darlington. The latter also runs on a Sunday, running through to Middlesbrough.

Other CrossCountry services as well as all London North Eastern Railway and some TransPennine Express services pass through the station but do not stop.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Durham		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		Newcastle
		TransPennine Express North TransPennine
		Northern Tees Valley Line
	Historical railways
Plawsworth Line open, station closed		North Eastern Railway East Coast Main Line		Birtley Line open, station closed

Chester-le-Street lost its part-time staff in or about 1990.

For about twenty years, from 1999 to 2018, Chester-le-Track, an independent private limited company, operated the station as an agent for the local franchised train operating company, which, in 2017, was Northern.[5]

In late 2020 National Rail say:

The independent retailer, Chester-le-Track, that ran the ticket office at this station has gone into administration. Northern Rail will be staffing the station on a part time basis but may not be able to sell the full range of tickets, in particular Advance Purchase and longer term Season Tickets.

In addition, some of the station facilities may not always be available at the times shown below. [6]

The ticket office is staffed six days per week, between 07:30 and 18:00 on weekdays and 07:30 and 13:00 on Saturdays (closed evenings and Sundays). At other times tickets must be bought on the train or prior to travel. There are toilets and a waiting room in the main building, along with standard shelters on each platform. Vending machines are available for the purchase of snacks and cold drinks. Train running information is offered via timetable posters and telephone. Step-free access is available to both platforms.[7]

• Train times and station information for Chester-le-Street railway station from National Rail
• Chester-le-Track – operator of Chester-Le-Street station