Darlington | |
---|---|
Location | |
Place | Darlington |
Local authority | Borough of Darlington |
Coordinates | 54°31′15″N 1°32′47″W / 54.5209°N 1.5464°WCoordinates: 54°31′15″N 1°32′47″W / 54.5209°N 1.5464°W |
Grid reference | NZ294140 |
Operations | |
Station code | DAR |
Managed by | Virgin Trains East Coast |
Number of platforms | 4 |
DfT category | B |
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
|
Annual rail passenger usage* | |
2011/12 | 2.262 million |
– Interchange | 0.355 million |
2012/13 | 2.179 million |
– Interchange | 0.376 million |
2013/14 | 2.208 million |
– Interchange | 0.430 million |
2014/15 | 2.257 million |
– Interchange | 0.396 million |
2015/16 | 2.244 million |
– Interchange | 0.390 million |
Listed status | |
Listed feature | Bank Top Railway Station (Main Building) |
Listing grade | Grade II* listed |
Entry number | 1310079 |
Added to list | 6 September 1977 |
National Rail – UK railway stations | |
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Darlington from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
Darlington railway station is on the East Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom, serving the town of Darlington, County Durham. It is 232 miles 50 chains (374.4 km) down-line from London King's Cross and on the main line 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 as it is an important stop for main line services, with trains being operated by Virgin Trains East Coast, CrossCountry and TransPennine Express, and it is the interchange for Northern services to Middlesbrough. Darlington is the location of the first commercial steam railway: the . The station building is a Grade II* listedVictorian structure and winner of the "Large Station of the Year" award in 2005.
The first railway to pass through the area now occupied by the station was built by the , who 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 and LNER. The original Bank Top station where the two routes met was a modest affair, which 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 (although it remained in use for freight until 1967).