Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line

Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line
Biomass train between Picton and Brompton
Overview
OwnerNational Rail
LocaleNorth Yorkshire
County Durham
Service
SystemNational Rail
History
Opened2 June 1852
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed70 mph (113 km/h)
Route map

(Click to expand)

The Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line runs between Northallerton and Eaglescliffe stations. It connects the East Coast Main Line to the Tees Valley Line. It was built by the Leeds Northern Railway as part of their main line from Leeds to Stockton (via Harrogate and Ripon) which opened on 2 June 1852,[1] although the connection to the ECML at the Northallerton end was not opened for a further four years.

Stations

Open

The current stations on the line are:

Closed

A number of stations that used to serve towns and villages on the line were closed between 1954 and the end of local passenger services over the route on 6 September 1965, with those at Picton, Yarm and Brompton being the last to go. The station at Yarm was subsequently reopened by Regional Railways North East in February 1996.[2]

Services

Most services are run by TransPennine Express between Manchester Airport and Middlesbrough. Services are roughly hourly and call at all stations as part of the North TransPennine route. A further five trains a day in each direction (as of December 2021) by Grand Central serve Northallerton and Eaglescliffe as part of the route between Sunderland and London King's Cross.[3]

The lines also sees use by a variety of heavy freight services to/from Teesside, including petroleum from Port Clarence, steel trains to and from Hartlepool, Scunthorpe and Aldwarke,[4] the Freightliner terminal at Teesport and waste traffic to Wilton EFW.[5]

The line is also part of a diversionary route to Newcastle using the Durham Coast Line when the East Coast Main Line route via Darlington and Durham Is closed.

Accidents and incidents

  • 27 July 1963 – a freight train ran through a red signal in the early hours of the morning and collided with a slower moving freight train in the same section of line. The guard of the front train was crushed in his brake van and died of his injuries at the scene. The inquiry determined that the driver of the rear train had most likely fallen asleep.[6]
  • 11 July 2025 – a freight trains struck a vehicle on the level crossing at West Rounton Gates. The impact of the collision showered debris including one of the level crossing barriers into the gardens of nearby homes. The driver of the road vehicle died at the scene.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Body, G. (1988). Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2. PSL Field Guides. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 137. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
  2. ^ Piggott, Nick, ed. (April 1996). "New station opens at Yarm". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 142, no. 1140. London: IPC. p. 18. ISSN 0033-8923.
  3. ^ "Train Routes | Grand Central". www.grandcentralrail.com. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  4. ^ Shannon, Paul (September 2014). "British Freight Today - Metals". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 160, no. 1, 362. Horncastle: Morton's Media Group. p. 24. ISSN 0033-8923.
  5. ^ Buck, Martin (November 2016). Loco Review 2017 edition. Swindon: Freightmaster Publishing. pp. 56–57. ISBN 978-0-9933129-1-5.
  6. ^ McNaughton, I.K.A. (18 December 1963). Report on the Collision which occurred on 31st July 1963 Between Picton and Welbury in the North Eastern Region British Railways (Report). Retrieved 21 July 2025 – via The Railways Archive.
  7. ^ Foster, Adam (15 July 2025). "'There was debris flying over the house': Family's near miss after train hits car". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 21 July 2025.

Media related to Northallerton to Eaglescliffe Line at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.