Tees Valley line

The Tees Valley Line is a rail route, in Northern England, following part of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway route of 1825. The line covers a distance of 38 mi, and connects Bishop Auckland to Saltburn via Darlington, Middlesbrough and 14 other stations in the Teesdale.

The section of line between Darlington and Bishop Auckland is branded as The Bishop Line, and is supported by the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership. Beyond the line's western terminus at Bishop Auckland, the tracks continue for around 16 mi to Stanhope along what is now the Weardale Heritage Railway.

Service
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.

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.

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.

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

Class 142 'Pacer' trains also served the line on Northern services, until the turn of the new decade, when they were withdrawn from passenger service.

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.

History
The section of line between Bishop Auckland and Albert Hill Junction, Darlington (prior to joining the East Coast Main Line), as well as the section between Oak Tree Junction, Dinsdale (near Middleton St. George) and Eaglescliffe, follow the original route of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which dates back to 1825. The 1825 S&DR route is re-joined north of Eaglescliffe and runs as far as Bowesfield Junction, Stockton.

The S&DR line from Bowesfield to Watson's Wharf on the Tees near Middlesbrough opened in 1830, and this was extended to Redcar in 1846. The extension to Saltburn opened in 1861, and the line towards Brotton and Loftus opened in 1872. The line beyond Loftus (now the freight only line to Boulby Mine) was part of the Whitby, Redcar & Middlesbrough Union Railway, opened in 1883, and closed on 5 May 1958.

In March 2015, a 1 km 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.

Least-used stations
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.

Redcar British Steel
In 2017-18, Redcar British Steel was the least-used station in Britain, with an estimated 40 passenger journeys made.

Prior to service suspension in December 2019, Redcar British Steel was served by two trains during the morning peak (07:57 to Bishop Auckland & 08:25 to Saltburn), and two during the evening peak (16:58 to Middlesbrough & 18:17 to Saltburn).

Teesside Airport
In 2012–13 and 2013–14, Teesside Airport was the least-used station in the country, with just 8 passenger journeys made per year, in both periods.

As of the December 2019 timetable change, Teesside Airport is currently served by a once-weekly parliamentary service. Currently, the single Sunday service, commencing at Hartlepool, is timetabled to call at Teesside Airport at 14:54, before continuing through to Darlington.

In 2020/21, due to decreased travel throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the station saw only two passenger journeys made. While remaining officially open, the station has seen its service suspended since May 2022 with the one operational platform condemned as unsafe. Because of this, there were only 2 passengers in the year beginning April 2022.