Eaglescliffe railway station

Eaglescliffe
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Location
Place	Eaglescliffe
Local authority	Stockton-on-Tees
Coordinates
Grid reference	NZ421150
Operations
Station code	EAG
Managed by	Northern Rail
Number of platforms	2
DfT category	F1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	54,555
2005/06	60,238
2006/07	65,522
2007/08	76,072
2008/09	83,794
2009/10	109,520
2010/11	123,280
2011/12	135,886
2012/13	149,074
2013/14	176,143
2014/15	195,264
History
Key dates	Opened 25 January 1853 (25 January 1853)
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Eaglescliffe from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Eaglescliffe railway station serves the town of Eaglescliffe in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England. It is located on the Tees Valley Line at the junction with the Northallerton-Eaglescliffe Line and is operated by Northern Rail. Direct intercity services are provided by Grand Central between London and Sunderland.

Station facilities here have recently been improved as part of the Tees Valley Metro project. The package for this station included new digital information screens displaying live departures, renewed station signage and the installation of CCTV. The long-line Public Address system (PA) has been renewed and upgraded with pre-recorded train announcements.

History

Eaglescliffe Station was the second station to be built along Yarm Road and deviates from the original course of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, that being the world's first steam operated passenger railway service. Originally the line ran on the east side of Yarm Road through Preston Hall (now more commonly known as Preston Park. However it is said that Lord Preston was so unhappy at the disruption that trains such as Locomotion No. 1 caused to his cattle he insisted that it be moved to the other side of the road.

The railway station that served the parishes of Preston-on-Tees and Egglescliffe was called Preston, however the railway owners displeased at the cost of moving the railway decided to name the new station after Egglescliffe instead of Preston. It was opened on 25 January 1853, some six months after the Leeds Northern Railway had opened their line from Northallerton (on 2 June 1852). This newer route ran alongside the original S&D line, which had its alignment altered to allow easy interchange between the two. Originally it had four platforms, but the western pair were taken out of use in the late 1960s and subsequently removed.

The new station became known as Eaglescliffe. There are various stories as to how the station got the name Eaglescliffe instead of Egglescliffe as intended. One such avenue of stories is that the signwriter was sent a telegram to paint the sign 'Eaglescliffe' due to an error and another variant was that the signwriter thought there must have been an error and changed the name himself.

In each variation of the story it is said that the sign was not changed for a period of time by which time the station became known as Eaglescliffe and the surrounding area has taken the name.

In January 2011, construction work started on a new ticket office at the station with the station set to become manned by the end of the month. This work is part of the wider Tees Valley Metro project.

Services

Trains run twice hourly to Middlesbrough and Saltburn eastbound and to Darlington westbound, with certain trains extended to Bishop Auckland (every two hours, increasing to hourly at peak periods). Five daily Grand Central services between Sunderland and London Kings Cross also call. There is an hourly service on Sundays to Darlington and Saltburn and every two hours to Bishop Auckland. The station has been re-staffed on an independent basis, similar to the one at Chester-le-Street. The station became manned, with a ticket office in March 2012. The station is operated by Chester-le-Track, an independent private limited company, who operate the station at Chester le Street. It is hoped to open a waiting room "in due course". As at March 2015 work is now in hand constructing a waiting room, improving access to the bridge & extending the car park.

References

• Body, G. (1988), PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2, Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 1-85260-072-1

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Northallerton		Grand Central London-Sunderland		Hartlepool
Thornaby		Northern Rail Tees Valley Line		Allens West

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons