Durham railway station

Durham railway station serves the city of Durham on the East Coast Main Line. The railway station is managed by East Coast. Despite its small functional capacity the station is a principal stop on the East Coast Main Line and is called at by many intercity services travelling the route.

The travel time between Durham and London King's Cross, 254 miles (409 km) south, is around three hours on a high-speed East Coast service.

Description

Durham is a through station with two platforms and is located on a hill to the north of the city centre. To the south of the station, the railway line is elevated on a viaduct. After the 2006–2008 renovation, the booking hall is now located in the original stone station building.

History

Originally, Durham was served by three stations but none of these survive today. Only one of these was located in the city. This was built at Gilesgate and served a branch from the Leamside Line (then the main line from London to Newcastle). The other two were in nearby Shincliffe, one called Shincliffe Town which served a branch from Sunderland which was built in 1839, and the other (Shincliffe Bank Top) was opened in 1844. The Sunderland branch was later extended into Durham city at a station called Elvet in 1893, and Shincliffe Town declined in importance and eventually closed.

In 1857, the current Durham railway station and the viaduct immediately to the south were built, but it was not on the main line. It was built as a terminus to a branch from Bishop Auckland. However, in 1871 a new line was built from the existing main line at Tursdale to the new Durham station, then continued to Newcastle Central via Chester-le-Street. This soon became the main line.

The Gilesgate branch closed in 1965. Passenger services to Newcastle via the Leamside route ended in 1963; the Leamside line declined in importance, and was mothballed in 1991. Passenger services to Bishop Auckland and Sunderland via Penshaw were withdrawn on 4 May 1964.

The other stations in Durham and Shincliffe closed to passengers before the Beeching Axe, but many remained goods stations until the closures. Prior to the nationalisation of the railways, it was run by London and North Eastern Railway. The line was electrified in 1991. Today, the station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Coast.

Ticket barriers were installed in September 2009.

2006–2008 refurbishment

The station was refurbished between 2006 and 2008 by operator GNER and later National Express which included a new lounge, toilets, travel centre, glazed waiting area, lifts and shops. The entrance and booking hall were moved from the 'temporary' 1960s building into the original stone building following renovation and repairs. The renovations were completed in early 2008 and the newly renovated station won Best Medium Station and Overall Station of the Year at the 2008 National Rail Awards.^[1]

Services

tph = trains per hour   tpd = trains per day

Gallery

References

External links

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