Teesside Airport railway station

Teesside Airport is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between Saltburn and Bishop Auckland. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by Northern Trains.

Teesside Airport
LocationTeesside International Airport, Borough of Darlington
England
Coordinates54°31′07″N 1°25′31″W
Grid referenceNZ373138
Owned byNetwork Rail
Managed byNorthern Trains
Platforms2 (1 in use)
Tracks2
Other information
Station codeTEA
ClassificationDfT category F1
History
Original companyBritish Rail (Eastern Region)
Key dates
3 October 1971 (1971-10-03)Opened
Passengers
2015/16 98
2016/17 30
2017/18 74
2018/19 206
2019/20 338
Location
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Teesside International Airport is located around 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) from the station, and accessibility issues are a major factor in its lack of usage.[1][2]

Teesside Airport is one of Britain's least-used stations, with an estimated 338 passenger journeys made during 2019/20. In both 2012/13 and 2013/14, it was the least used station in the country, serving just eight passengers per year.[3][4]

History

The station is on the original route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and is located around 5 miles 43 chains (8.9 km) from Darlington South Junction.[5] It was opened by British Rail in October 1971.[6]

In 2004, the airport changed its name to Durham Tees Valley Airport, but reverted back to Teesside International Airport in 2019.[7] The station's name was never updated to reflect the change. In 2007, Northern Rail erected new signs reading Teesside Airport, replacing previous signs which had used a hyphen in Tees-side. National Rail now also lists the station as Teesside Airport.[8]

On 24 October 2009, a group of 26 people travelled to and from the station on the only scheduled service, to highlight the station's existence and its limited service, and to try to persuade railway authorities to move it closer to the airport terminal.[1][9][10]

The station was featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Ghost Trains of Old England in October 2010.[11] It was suggested that a large proportion of the tickets sold for the station are bought by collectors who wish to own tickets with rare or unusual destinations, and do not necessarily travel.

The station has two platforms, each long enough for a four-car train.[5] However, in December 2017, it was announced by Durham Tees Valley Airport that the station's footbridge and Middlesbrough-bound platform would be closed, in order to save a quoted total of £6 million on maintenance of the station up until 2022.[12][13]

Facilities

The station has two platforms, with very basic amenities. There is a waiting shelter on the former Middlesbrough-bound platform, which is no longer accessible using the metal footbridge. There is step-free access to the Darlington-bound platform.[14]

Teesside Airport is not part of the Northern Trains penalty fare network, as ticket machines have not yet (as of December 2020) been installed at the station.[15]

Services

The 1986 British Rail timetable shows that the station was served by an hourly service, which operated seven days a week. However, since the early 1990s, the station has received only a bare minimum parliamentary service, to avoid the need for formal closure proceedings.

As of December 2020, the station is served by a once-weekly service on a Sunday, which runs between Hartlepool and Darlington.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Rail buffs to highlight Teesside Airport 'ghost station'". The Journal. 14 October 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. Armstrong, Jeremy (2 May 2013). "Britain's least visited railway station had just FOURTEEN passengers in a year". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  3. Pigott, Nick, ed. (June 2012). "Waterloo still London's busiest station". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 158 no. 1334. Horncastle, Lincs.: Mortons Media Group. p. 6.
  4. "Revealed: Britain's busiest and quietest stations". BBC News. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. Yonge, John (September 2006) [1994]. Jacobs, Gerald (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 2: Eastern (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 47C. ISBN 0-9549866-2-8.
  6. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 227. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
  7. "Airport gets its original name back". BBC News. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  8. "Station facilities for Teesside Airport". National Rail Enquiries. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  9. "Airport outing bid to promote station". The Northern Echo. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  10. "Busy day at rarely-used train station". The Northern Echo. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  11. "The Ghost Trains of Old England". BBC Radio 4. BBC. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  12. Bowe, Charlotte (27 December 2017). "£6 million - what Durham Tees Valley Airport says it will save by closing platform at one of UK's least used railway halts". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  13. "'Little-used' Teesside Airport Station loses platform". BBC News. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  14. "Teesside Airport Station Train Tickets, Departures and Timetables". Northern Trains. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  15. "Penalty Fares Map". Northern Trains. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  16. "Train times: Bishop Auckland and Darlington to Middlesbrough and Saltburn" (PDF). Northern Trains. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Allens West   Northern Trains
Tees Valley Line		   Dinsdale
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