Tees Valley line

Services on the Tees Valley Line are operated by Northern Trains, with a half hourly service to Darlington, of which 1 train every hour extends to Bishop Auckland.

Additional Northern Trains services operate along the Tees Valley Line during the morning peak, with some journeys between Middlesbrough and Newcastle running along the East Coast Main Line, rather than the Durham Coast Line.[5]

TransPennine Express also operate along part of the Tees Valley Line, with hourly services from Redcar Central and Middlesbrough to York, Leeds and Manchester Airport.[6]

Predominantly, rolling stock on the Tees Valley Line consists of Class 156 and Class 158 diesel multiple units operated by Northern Trains, as well Class 185 diesel multiple units operated by TransPennine Express.

The Class 156 and 158 units operating on the Tees Valley Line are currently in the process of being refurbished, with upgrades including free WiFi, power sockets, on-board passenger information displays, and an interior refresh.[7][8]

Class 185 units operated by TransPennine Express were refurbished as part of a £32 million investment, with the work being completed in 2018.[9]

Class 142 'Pacer' trains also served the line on Northern services, until the turn of the new decade, when they were withdrawn from passenger service.[10]

The route serves the following stations: Bishop Auckland, Shildon, Newton Aycliffe, Heighington, North Road (Darlington), Darlington, Dinsdale, Teesside Airport, Allens West, Eaglescliffe, Thornaby, Middlesbrough, South Bank, Redcar Central, Redcar East, Longbeck, Marske and Saltburn.

A map of the railway network of the Tees Valley, and neighbouring areas of County Durham and North Yorkshire, at its greatest extent during the early 20th century.

The section of line between Bishop Auckland and Darlington (prior to joining the East Coast Main Line), as well as the section between Dinsdale (near Middleton St. George) and Eaglescliffe, follow the original route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which dates back to 1825.[2]

The line from Middlesbrough to Saltburn, as well as the freight only line to Boulby Mine, were part of the Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway, until the line's closure on 5 May 1958.[11]

In March 2015, a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) electrified siding was laid adjacent to the Tees Valley Line, just south of Heighington. This allows low-speed testing of the trains manufactured at the nearby Hitachi Rail plant at Newton Aycliffe, including TOPS classes 800, 801, 805, 807, 810 and 385.[12][13]

Prior to the suspension of services to Redcar British Steel in 2019, the Tees Valley Line was home to two of the country's least-used rail stations.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tees Valley Line.

• GenMaps - Maps of Durham, Yorkshire 1885
• NPEMaps - Maps of area circa 1950
• Network Rail maps of Route 9 - North East Routes
• North Eastern Railway Tour 2000
• Communigate - Grangetown streets and buildings
• The Bishop Line