Middlesbrough railway station

Bomb damage after the 1942 raid

The first railway was built in the area as long ago as 1830 as an extension of the Stockton and Darlington Railway to connect with the port of the then new town of Middlesbrough. A branch off this, passing just south of the new town and extending eastwards to Redcar was opened in June 1846 by the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway Company.[4][5]

Situated on the southern edge of the new town on the Redcar branch line, Middlesbrough's first passenger station was designed by John Middleton and opened on 26 July 1847. As the town expanded rapidly during the second half of the 19th Century however, the station was unable to cope with the traffic growth. Due to the design of the station not lending itself to enlargement it was therefore demolished in 1874 and replaced by the current station, opened in December 1877.[6][7]

The current station was designed by the North Eastern Railway's chief architect, William Peachey, with an ornate Gothic style frontage. Behind this an overall roof of elliptical design once existed. Constructed out of wrought iron of lattice design, with glass covering the middle half and timber (inside)/slate (outside) covering the outer quarters. The two end screens were glazed with timber cladding around the outer edges. The roof was high in relation to its width.[8]

Middlesbrough station, July 1977

The elliptical roof was severely damaged in a German daylight air raid in the afternoon of 3 August 1942[9][10] and eventually removed in 1954, to be replaced by the current design over the concourse and platforms.[11]

A major refurbishment of the station took place during 2017 and 2018 with repairs carried out to the station's roof and stonework and upgrading of the Wood Street car park.[12] New information screens were also installed as part of the refurbishment.

In June 2020, Tees Valley Combined Authority announced a new £35 million plan to transform the station. Phase 1 of the work, expected to begin in early 2021, will see the extension of platform 2 giving the station increased capacity to accommodate more trains to Whitby and Newcastle; and planned for late 2021, the re-introduction of direct LNER trains from Middlesbrough to London. Phase 2 of the work will include a new £6.5 million entrance with accompanying business units being created on Zetland Road with access to the station subway being part of the plans. A third phase could see a new platform 3 built, with accompanying glass frontage and concourse facing out onto Bridge Street West further increasing train capacity within the station.[13][14][15]

Northern Trains Route 2: Durham Coast Line
Tyne Valley Line to Carlisle East Coast Main Line to London King's Cross Newcastle East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh Heworth Sunderland Seaham Hartlepool Seaton Carew Billingham Stockton Tees Valley Line to Bishop Auckland Thornaby Middlesbrough Tees Valley Line to Saltburn Esk Valley Line to Whitby

Northern Trains Route 3: Bishop & Tees Valley Lines
Bishop Auckland Shildon Newton Aycliffe Heighington North Road East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh Darlington East Coast Main Line to London King's Cross Dinsdale Teesside Airport Allens West Northallerton to Eaglescliffe Line Eaglescliffe Durham Coast Line to Newcastle Thornaby Middlesbrough Esk Valley Line to Whitby South Bank British Steel Redcar Redcar Central Redcar East Longbeck Marske Saltburn
There are currently no trains calling at British Steel Redcar until further notice.

Northern Trains Route 5: Esk Valley Line
Durham Coast Line to Newcastle & Tees Valley Line to Bishop Auckland Middlesbrough Tees Valley Line to Saltburn James Cook Marton Gypsy Lane Nunthorpe Great Ayton Battersby Kildale Commondale Castleton Moor Danby Lealholm Glaisdale Egton North York Moors Railway to Pickering Grosmont for North York Moors Railway Sleights Ruswarp Whitby

From the station, Northern Trains provides local services on three lines. Services are currently operated by a fleet of Class 156 and Class 158 DMUs. As of the December 2019 timetable change, service and frequency is as follows:

• Durham Coast Line: An hourly service between Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Most trains continue on to Hexham or Carlisle.[20]
• Esk Valley Line: An hourly service between Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe, with six trains per day (four on Sunday) continuing on to Whitby. Most trains commence from Hexham or Carlisle. Two additional services operate as far as Battersby or Castleton Moor (Monday to Saturday only).[21]
• Tees Valley Line: A half-hourly service between Saltburn and Darlington, with one train per hour continuing on to Bishop Auckland.[22]

TransPennine Express also operate an hourly service from Redcar Central to York, Leeds and Manchester Airport.[23][24] Services are operated by a fleet of Class 185 DMUs, which are due to be replaced by the new Nova 3.[25]

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Thornaby		TransPennine Express North TransPennine		Redcar Central
Terminus		Northern Trains Durham Coast Line		Thornaby
		Northern Trains Esk Valley Line		James Cook
Redcar Central		Northern Trains Tees Valley Line		Thornaby
South Bank
	Future services
Newcastle		Northern Connect Carlisle – Middlesbrough		Terminus
	Disused railways
Terminus		Middlesbrough & Guisborough Railway		Ormesby

• Body, G (1988). PSL Field Guides – Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Middlesbrough railway station.

• Train times and station information for Middlesbrough railway station from National Rail