Darlington railway station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line, serving the town of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is 232 mi north of London King's Cross. It is situated between Northallerton to the south and Durham to the north. Its three-letter station code is DAR. The station is well served, since it is an important stop for main line services, with trains operated by London North Eastern Railway, CrossCountry and TransPennine Express; it is also the interchange for Northern Trains services to Bishop Auckland, Middlesbrough and Saltburn. Darlington is the location of the first commercial steam railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The station building is a Grade II* listed Victorian structure and winner of the Large Station of the Year award in 2005.

History

The first railway to pass through the area now occupied by the station was built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which opened their mineral branch from Albert Hill Junction on their main line to Croft-on-Tees on 27 October 1829. This branch line was subsequently purchased by the Great North of England Railway a decade later to incorporate into their new main line from York, which reached the town on 30 March 1841. A separate company, the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway continued the new main line northwards towards Ferryhill and Newcastle, opening its route three years later on 19 June 1844. This crossed the S&D at Parkgate Junction by means of a flat crossing which would in future years become something of an operational headache for the North Eastern Railway (NER) and London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The original Bank Top station, where the two routes met, was a modest affair; it was rebuilt in 1860 to accommodate the expanding levels of traffic on the main line. By the mid-1880s, even this replacement structure was deemed inadequate and so the NER embarked on a major upgrade to facilities in the area. This included an ornate new station with an impressive three-span overall roof on the Bank Top site, new sidings and goods lines alongside it and a new connecting line from the south end of the station (Polam Junction) to meet the original S&D line towards Middlesbrough at Oak Tree Junction near Dinsdale. These improvements were completed on 1 July 1887, when the old route west of Oak Tree closed to passengers; it remained in use for freight until 1967. The new station, with its broad island platform, was designed by T. E. Harrison, chief engineer, and William Bell, the architect of the NER. It cost £81,000 to construct. It soon became a busy interchange on the main East Coast route, thanks to its rail links to Richmond (opened in 1846), Barnard Castle and Penrith (1862/5) and the Tees Valley Line to Bishop Auckland (1842) and Saltburn (1861). The lines to Penrith (closed in 1962), Barnard Castle (1964) and Richmond (1969) have now gone, along with the bays at the northern end of the station which are now used for car parking. The main line, which was electrified in 1991, and the Tees Valley route remain busy. It is also still possible to travel to Catterick Garrison and Richmond from here, by means of the Arriva North East-operated X26 and X27 buses, which have through National Rail ticketing arrangements. The same company also operated the Sky Express bus service to Durham Tees Valley Airport from the station, but this was withdrawn in January 2009 due to declining demand.

Tees Valley Metro

Starting in 2006, Darlington was mentioned within the Tees Valley Metro scheme. This was a plan to upgrade the Tees Valley Line and sections of the Esk Valley Line and Durham Coast Line to provide a faster and more frequent service across the North East of England. In the initial phases the services would have been heavy rail mostly along existing alignments with new additional infrastructure and rollingstock. The later phase would have introduced tram-trains to allow street running and further heavy rail extensions, and there was suggestions to have the metro extend west to Bishop Auckland from Darlington. Darlington was a major part of the scheme and so had some of the largest proposed improvements. To reduce the need for local services to cross the East Coast Main Line, two new eastern platforms would have been created. The new platforms would be connected to the main building by a new footbridge and lifts, and the existing car parking places that would have been lost with the new platforms would be replaced at a similar distance from the station. A new entrance, including pick-up/drop-off facilities, was considered on the eastern side. Furthermore, release of track capacity on the ECML to allow more trains to run from Darlington to York and Newcastle and improved service to Saltburn (1–2 to 4 trains per hour) and new rollingstock were proposed. While unclear and never having concrete plans, street-running trams to Darlington town centre were also proposed in a future phase of the Metro. However, due to a change in government in 2010 and the 2008 financial crisis, the project was ultimately shelved. Several stations eventually got their improvements and there is a possibility of improved rollingstock and services in the future which may affect Darlington.

Accidents and incidents

Facilities

The station is fully staffed; the ticket office is open throughout the week (06:00–20:00/21:00 weekdays, 06:30–19:45 Saturdays, 07:45–20:00 Sundays). There is a waiting room and a first class lounge on the platform, with the lounge open between 06:00 and 20:00 each day; on Sundays, it opens at 08:00. Self-service ticket machines are also provided for use outside the opening hours for the booking office and for collecting pre-paid tickets. Various retail outlets are located in the main buildings, including a coffee shop, grocers and newsagents. Vending machines, toilets, a photo booth, payphone and cash machines are also provided. Train running information is offered via digital CIS displays, announcements and timetable posters. Step-free access to all platforms is via ramps from the subway, linking the platforms with the main entrance and car park.

Services

Darlington is well served by trains on the East Coast Main Line; it is served by four train operating companies:

Platforms

Darlington railway station has five main platforms:

Future

HS2 trains were originally planned to stop at Darlington as part of the eastern leg, but phase 2b was cancelled as part of the Integrated Rail Plan; the entirety of the second phase of HS2 was cancelled in 2023. As at 2024, the station is undergoing redevelopment with many features of the abandoned Tees Valley Metro plan being resurrected. There is the construction of a new concourse, multi-storey car park and two new platforms on the current freight avoiding lines.

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