Thousands of passengers in the North East of England are set to
benefit from more frequent, reliable rail services and better
connections, thanks to £15 million of government investment, the
Transport Secretary has announced today (Monday, June 29).
The new Horden Station in Durham opens to passengers for the
first time today, and will be served by one train per hour
calling at all stations between Newcastle and Middlesbrough. This
restores a vital link for up to 70,000 passengers in an area that
hadn’t had a station over a 20 kilometre stretch, after the
previous station was closed in the Beeching cuts in1964.
The £10.55 million project, led by Durham County Council and
Network Rail, has been supported by £4.4 million from the
Department for Transport’s New Stations Fund.
The Transport Secretary has also announced £8.7million of
investment to develop proposals for a package of enhancements to
modernise Darlington station. These include two new platforms for
local services, one new platform for southbound long-distance
services and a raft of improvements to make the station more
accessible.
A further £2.45 million has also been agreed to develop proposals
which would see platform 2 at Middlesbrough Station extended to
accommodate longer trains with more seats, and a new platform
built, increasing capacity for local services and delivering more
comfortable journeys for passengers.
Transport Secretary and Northern Powerhouse Minister said: “Our ambitious plans to
restore and revitalise the railways of the North East sits at the
heart of our commitment to level up infrastructure across the
country, build a railway that works for everyone, and kickstart
our economy…
It comes as the Transport Secretary recently agreed to give
£5million from Restoring Your Railway funding to Northumberland
County Council to develop proposals to drive forward the return
of passenger services on the Ashington-Blyth-Tyne Line in
Northumberland.
The New Stations Fund was launched in 2013 to help give local
communities improved access to rail services in England and Wales
and has so far helped to fund 10 new stations. The third round of
the New Stations Fund, which will invest £20 million in new
stations and help restore closed stations to their former glory,
has now closed with a decision on successful applicants due in
the Autumn.
Tees Valley Mayor said: “I am delighted that
Government has once again thrown its weight behind my plans to
upgrade both Darlington and Middlesbrough Station – a move which
will help thousands of rail travellers in my region with more
frequent and reliable services, and ensure we are b…
Today’s announcement comes as engineering works continue on the
£1.2 billion programme of infrastructure enhancements for the
East Coast Main Line (ECML) that will increase capacity and
reduce journey times.
Power supplies north of York are being upgraded to enable more
electric services to run, minimising the use of diesel fuel and
reducing the impact on the environment. The work between York and
Newcastle is due to be completed by the end of 2022 with the
upgrades between Newcastle and Edinburgh set to be completed
around 12 months later.
The East Coast Main Line is also set to become Britain’s first
mainline digital rail link with £350 million of new investment to
install state-of-the art electronic signalling designed to cut
journey times and slash delays.
Conventional signalling will be replaced with a digital system
that allows trains to talk to the track allowing the smooth the
flow of trains, making journeys safer and reduce signal failures
that every year result in thousands of hours of delays.
