Darlington station expansion

[NER1621]

“South East”, please! The most recent publicity run on the Portishead line featured a preserved Pacer!

Absolutely - my apologies.

 

[dodecahedron67]

FWIW all our notices and briefs say ‘From 0400 on 17th’ for the changes

 

[DarloRich]

FWIW all our notices and briefs say ‘From 0400 on 17th’ for the changes

that is what I have seen also.

 

[ainsworth74]

FWIW all our notices and briefs say ‘From 0400 on 17th’ for the changes

I must have gotten a crossed wire somewhere down the line as that seems fairly comprehensive that service trains won't start up until Sunday!

 

[CR165022]

Are platforms 2 & 3 going out of use? I can't find any services using them except for three units stabling overnight.

 

[DarloRich]

Are platforms 2 & 3 going out of use? I can't find any services using them except for three units stabling overnight.

I would say not in regular use. My understanding is that they will be available as required

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 15 May 2026 ==

I must have gotten a crossed wire somewhere down the line as that seems fairly comprehensive that service trains won't start up until Sunday!

you are not entirely wrong - the grand "VIP" opening is today with services starting from the 17th.

 

[ainsworth74]

Are platforms 2 & 3 going out of use? I can't find any services using them except for three units stabling overnight.

Northern will use them for stabling as now but yeah outside of disruption (either planned or unplanned) they won't be seeing much if any passenger use. But they'll still be available for sure.

you are not entirely wrong - the grand "VIP" opening is today with services starting from the 17th.

Hopefully someone more important than us meer plebs will be able to supply some photos!

 

[vic-rijrode]

Are platforms 2 & 3 going out of use? I can't find any services using them except for three units stabling overnight.

Talking of use, I can remember (just) in 1969 sleeping in a DMU parked in platform 3 at round about 2 o'clock on a Saturday morning with a friend on the way to Middlesbrough for a football match. All was going well until he pulled out a package of pilchard sandwiches which had been fermenting in his pocket since we left the south a few hours earlier.

We had to vacate the compartment rather hurriedly and cadge a lift with the first newspaper van to Middlesbrough at 4.30.

Every time I visit Darlington station, I can still catch a faint whiff...

 

[800001]

After the monumental delay in opening this new part of the station, you would have thought all external work would have been complete.

For those familiar with the work, Neasham Road and Park Gate footpaths have been blocked off for many many months with wooden hoardings, all this is still up.

For people arriving by foot the new pelican crossing is not installed except for the new tactile paving.

The whole entrance if arriving by foot or dropping off of passengers looks a complete mess.

There is nothing on Neasham Road to advertise the fact this new section opens tomorrow, it looks exactly like it has done for several months.

 

[NER1621]

…and likewise the Victoria Road entrance is still a mess, cordoned off with Arris fencing and filthy, bike racks not reinstated (on the side of the station which is the most bike-friendly for cyclists) and none of the works to the external road junction completed. Basically, Houchen’s vanity project has overrun so much that something had to open for the new timetable regardless of whether the project was finished.

Which also leaves aside the fact that this station “improvement” seems to deliver very little of benefit to Darlington passengers. Our fastest train to London slowed from 2h20m pre-December to 2h35m now - no sign of that being reversed. Pre-Dec we had a roughly half-hourly service to Durham: now we have 3 or 4tph to Durham, a key local destination only 15 mins away, BUT all within 17 mins of each other, then nothing for 43 mins. (This deterioration of service also applies in reverse, and also to York to Durham.) If the sole north-bound LNER service now stopping at Durham each hour switched from on the hour to on the half-hour that would restore the frequency, but no sign of that either.

The new layout means that passengers to and from Saltburn have to be at diametrically opposed sides of the station a long walk from each other for alternate trains instead of taking the sensible decision to terminate all Saltburn trains at the new platform and make Darlington to Bishop Auckland a separate shuttle (and increase the frequency to every 30 mins please!) which would also increase resilience by reducing knock-on delay effects from one leg to another.

As far as local passengers can see our services have been worsened because the pattern of trains calling is now dictated entirely by LNER’s focus on London-Newcastle-Edinburgh trains, and the station “improvements” are aimed almost entirely at speeding up the ECML and allowing more long-distance trains to skip Darlington. In itself there’s nothing wrong with that: IF had a rational management of team services in this country which planned regional services alongside long-distance ones with reliable connections at major hubs, instead of relying on local connectivity being provided by whatever random combination of long-distance services deign to call at your station.

Radically, if Darlington’s mainline platforms lost *all* their long-distance services but were instead served only by a reliable regular interval 2tph or 3tph regional shuttle between York and Newcastle with slick connections at either end (and to the branch services) and through seat reservations available I’d be happy to change at those stations for longer-distance journeys.

 

[D1537]

the pattern of trains calling is now dictated entirely by LNER’s focus on London-Newcastle-Edinburgh trains, and the station “improvements” are aimed almost entirely at speeding up the ECML and allowing more long-distance trains to skip Darlington. In itself there’s nothing wrong with that: IF had a rational management of team services in this country which planned regional services alongside long-distance ones with reliable connections at major hubs, instead of relying on local connectivity being provided by whatever random combination of long-distance services deign to call at your station.

I don't see what's random about Darlington's stopping services to be honest

LNER have 2tph and TPE 1tph at consistent minutes past the hour for a majority of the day
XC have 3tph with 2 trains in one hour and one in the next, but again at broadly same times past the hour

This means (to take southbound for an example) you have arrivals at 11, 27, 35 and 58 past the hour (and an extra one at 05 every other hour). Whatever regional service you want to catch, there's a service that feeds into it.

 

[Wallsendmag]

A few pics from this morning

 

[Sf9k]

It's a very nice upgrade - went through like I do usually! Much different to the existing station, plenty of people waiting on Platform 5 which sort of explains why it was quiet in the new concourse this morning.
One snag that I've heard from a few people is that the new ticket barriers are very clear and transparent - which could pose a bit of a safety hazard if someone was rushing for a train and manages to crash into the barriers thinking they were open. Could do with a few more anti-collision stickers.

 

[800001]

Noticed on RTT for Darlington today that several service are booked to call at platforms 'D, G and U'.

 

[Freightmaster]

Noticed on RTT for Darlington today that several service are booked to call at platforms 'D, G and U'.

D and U are the through lines - only non stop trains will show those line codes.

Southbound trains booked to use the new platform 5 will show [5] until they have called,
after which it will change to 'G', as that was the Goods loop until last week!




MARK

 

[Retorus]

It's a very nice upgrade - went through like I do usually! Much different to the existing station, plenty of people waiting on Platform 5 which sort of explains why it was quiet in the new concourse this morning.
One snag that I've heard from a few people is that the new ticket barriers are very clear and transparent - which could pose a bit of a safety hazard if someone was rushing for a train and manages to crash into the barriers thinking they were open. Could do with a few more anti-collision stickers.

There are going to be some splat incidents before those stickers get added.

 

[LowLevel]

There are going to be some splat incidents before those stickers get added.

Or if they're anything like the old S&B clear panel gates, a pile of broken glass

 

[ainsworth74]

It's a very nice upgrade - went through like I do usually! Much different to the existing station, plenty of people waiting on Platform 5 which sort of explains why it was quiet in the new concourse this morning.
One snag that I've heard from a few people is that the new ticket barriers are very clear and transparent - which could pose a bit of a safety hazard if someone was rushing for a train and manages to crash into the barriers thinking they were open. Could do with a few more anti-collision stickers.

Oh wow yes those are a little bit on the easy side to miss! They were open when I visited on Sunday night so didn't even notice that. I did notice that both sets of escalators were out of use however...

Have to say thought that I'm really impressed overall. They've done a very good job this project and those involved should be pleased with themselves. I have a couple of minor quibbles here and there but overall excellent.

 

[Wallsendmag]

There are stickers on but don't seem to show up well in the photos

 

[swt_passenger]

Geoff Marshall has just uploaded a video from the ‘opening day’. Includes an interview on board the press run train, Tornado in P6, and the new waiting facilities and how the footbridge links to the original station etc etc.

 

[MboroFC]

What will happen to platforms two and three? Looks like all the Tees stopping services are using platform one.

 

[zwk500]

What will happen to platforms two and three? Looks like all the Tees stopping services are using platform one.

From RTT, looks like they're used for overnight stabling. They'll presumably also be useful if 6 is unavailable for any reason, and offer an option in the case of disruption (or in the long-term, additional capacity for service uplift).

 

[MboroFC]

From RTT, looks like they're used for overnight stabling. They'll presumably also be useful if 6 is unavailable for any reason, and offer an option in the case of disruption (or in the long-term, additional capacity for service uplift).

Thanks, I thought would be getting rid and building over it but it's good that it will be kept.

 

[Coolzac]

From RTT, looks like they're used for overnight stabling. They'll presumably also be useful if 6 is unavailable for any reason, and offer an option in the case of disruption (or in the long-term, additional capacity for service uplift).

Plus they'll be useful for any increased service pattern towards Middlesbrough, Saltburn or Hartlepool.

 

[800001]

Plus they'll be useful for any increased service pattern towards Middlesbrough, Saltburn or Hartlepool.

That then defeats the point of building the new station. The new platforms were built to reduce the amount of services having to cross the ECML to access those platforms.

Any increase in service would use the new platform 6 which is currently used for 6 minutes of each hour.

 

[Coolzac]

That then defeats the point of building the new station. The new platforms were built to reduce the amount of services having to cross the ECML to access those platforms.

Any increase in service would use the new platform 6 which is currently used for 6 minutes of each hour.

Gosh, that's a quick turnaround. I thought that it would be used for more time than that. That's ideal then!

I suppose therefore platforms 2 and 3 can therefore mainly be used for stabling services that aren't turning around quickly?

 

[800001]

Gosh, that's a quick turnaround. I thought that it would be used for more time than that. That's ideal then!

I suppose therefore platforms 2 and 3 can therefore mainly be used for stabling services that aren't turning around quickly?

There is currently only 2 northern train services per hour from Darlington towards Saltburn, and 1 of this originates from Bishop Auckland so still uses the original platforms 1/4.

Platform 6 is used by one northern service, basically in and back out.

So plenty of spoke for additional services crew, units and paths permitting.

 

[yorksrob]

The new building looks very attractive.

I'm guessing the train shed will seem a bit quieter nowdays.

 

[swt_passenger]

The early Network Rail idea was for P6 to be a second up through platform, with an additional separate bay P7 for services towards Teesside. That implies it’s the solution to major increases to terminating services. I don’t think we’ll see any additional local services into P2/3, as just pointed out that defeats the aim of reducing crossing moves over the through lines.

 

[xotGD]

If an open access outfit launches a Darlo to Aberystwyth* service they can use P2&3.

*Other destinations are available.