Chester-le-Street railway station

Chester-le-Street
Location
Place	Chester-le-Street
Local authority	County of Durham
Coordinates	54°51′18″N 1°34′41″W / 54.855°N 1.578°W / 54.855; -1.578Coordinates: 54°51′18″N 1°34′41″W / 54.855°N 1.578°W / 54.855; -1.578
Grid reference	NZ271512
Operations
Station code	CLS
Managed by	Northern Rail
Owned by	Chester-le-Track[1]
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	0.126 million
2005/06	0.151 million
2006/07	0.161 million
2007/08	0.193 million
2008/09	0.187 million
2009/10	0.197 million
2010/11	0.206 million
2011/12	0.189 million
2012/13	0.175 million
2013/14	0.199 million
2014/15	0.201 million
History
Original company	North Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
1 December 1868	Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Chester-le-Street from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Chester-le-Street railway station serves the town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham, England. The station is on the East Coast Main Line 8 miles (13 km) south of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is mentioned in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.

History

The Team Valley line of the North Eastern Railway, which connected Newton Hall Junction near Durham with Gateshead, was authorised in 1848 but not opened until 2 March 1868 (the powers having been renewed in 1862). At first only freight trains used the route, but passenger services began on 1 December 1868,^[2] and the station at Chester-le-Street opened the same day.^[3]

Services

Mondays to Saturdays there is a mostly two-hourly First TransPennine Express service from Chester-le-Street, northbound to Newcastle Central and southbound to Durham, Darlington, York, Leeds, Manchester Victoria and Liverpool Lime Street.^[4] Most services run to and from Liverpool since the May 2014 timetable change, though certain early morning trains come from Manchester Airport. On Sundays there is also a two-hourly service in each direction.

The station also has a very limited service provided by other operators - CrossCountry have a single service to Southampton Central calling in the evening peak, whilst Northern Rail have three a.m northbound services to Newcastle calling on weekdays & two on Saturdays (from Middlesbrough and Saltburn) and one late night weekday southbound service to Darlington. The latter also runs on a Sunday, running through to Middlesbrough.

Other CrossCountry services as well as all Virgin Trains East Coast services pass through the station but do not stop.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Durham		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		Newcastle Central
		First TransPennine Express North TransPennine
		Northern Rail Tees Valley Line

Operator

Chester-le-Track, an independent private limited company, operates the station as an agent for the local franchised train operating company, which, as of 2011, is Northern Rail.^[5] Chester-le-Track began operating the station in 1999, Chester-le-Street having lost its part-time staff some 10 years previously.

References

External links

• Train times and station information for Chester-le-Street railway station from National Rail
• Chester-le-Track – operator of Chester-Le-Street station
• Buses from the station
• Buses to the station