Durham railway station

Durham
Location
Place	Durham
Local authority	Durham
Coordinates	54°46′47″N 1°34′53″W / 54.7798°N 1.5815°W / 54.7798; -1.5815Coordinates: 54°46′47″N 1°34′53″W / 54.7798°N 1.5815°W / 54.7798; -1.5815
Operations
Station code	DHM
Managed by	East Coast
Number of platforms	2
Live arrivals/departures and station information from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage
2004/05 *	1.650 million
2005/06 *	1.740 million
2006/07 *	1.774 million
2007/08 *	1.858 million
2008/09 *	1.996 million
2009/10 *	2.051 million
National Rail - UK railway stations
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
* Annual passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Durham from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Please note: methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Local train from Newcastle in 1953

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^{[clarification needed]} 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.

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

Direction	East Coast	CrossCountry	First Transpennine Express	Northern Rail
Northbound	1tph to Newcastle, with some continuing to Edinburgh	1tph to Newcastle 1tph to Edinburgh	1tph to Newcastle	3tpd to Newcastle in the early morning 2t on Saturday
Southbound	1tph to London Kings Cross	1tph to Reading via Doncaster 1tph to Plymouth via Leeds	1tph to Manchester Airport	1tpd to Middlesbrough in the late evening on Saturday and Sunday

tph = trains per hour   tpd = trains per day

Gallery

• 

  The Durham Viaduct

• 

  The northbound platform as seen from a train

• 

  Middle of the station, showing departures board

• 

  A HST departing for Newcastle

• 

  A CrossCountry Voyager

• 

  Coupled Voyager Trains at Durham

References

1. ^ http://www.natrailawards.co.uk/winners.html

External links

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

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Darlington		CrossCountry Cross Country Route		Chester-le-Street
Darlington		First TransPennine Express North TransPennine		Chester-le-Street
Darlington		East Coast East Coast Main Line		Newcastle