Billingham railway station

Billingham
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Billingham Add→{{rail-interchange}}
General information
Location	Stockton-on-Tees
Managed by	Northern
Platforms	2
Other information
Station code	BIL
History
Opened	7 November 1966

Billingham railway station serves the town of Billingham, within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. The railway station is located on the Durham Coast Line and is operated by Northern who provide all of the station's passenger services.

Station facilities here have recently been improved and included new fully lit waiting shelters and the installation of CCTV. The long-line public address system (PA) has been renewed and upgraded with pre-recorded train announcements.

History

The station is a modern-style halt on the line and was opened on Monday 7 November 1966 to replace the town's original larger grander station located further west towards Norton; this closed the previous day^[1] and was subsequently demolished in the early 1970s. It was located next to the level crossing carrying the old route of the A19 across the railway. Only the signal box and footbridge survive on the site of the original station. The new Billingham station of British Rail was provided with a booking hall, waiting room, parcels office and lavatories. These facilities were lost when the station was reduced to unstaffed halt status towards the end of the 1960s. The station building of 1966 still stands, and is used as the office of local taxi company Binks Taxis.

The Tees Valley Rail Strategy calls for the re-opening of the original station as 'Old Billingham' as a new additional station on the Durham Coast Line. However, the plans have yet to come to fruition.

Accidents and incidents

On 2 December 1953, a train ran off the end of the loop and was derailed. An express freight train then ran into the wreckage and was also derailed.^[2]

Services

The station has a basic hourly service in each direction on weekdays (with a few peak period extras), northwards to Hartlepool, Sunderland and Newcastle and southwards to Middlesbrough. Most northbound trains continue onto the Tyne Valley line to MetroCentre and Hexham, whilst southbound trains are usually extended to and from Nunthorpe.^[3]

Sundays see a two-hourly service each between Middlesbrough and MetroCentre and two additional direct services to/from Darlington.

References

^ Poster for New Billingham Station 1966Picture Stockton Archive; Retrieved 2013-12-02
^ Hoole, Ken (1983). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 4. Truro: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-07-9.
^ GB National Rail Timetable Dec 2015 - May 2016, Table 44