BRITISH STEEL REDCAR STATION TO CLOSE
Published at 09:08 on Saturday 5th October 2019
Tags: TPE, British Steel Redcar, TransPennine
On the 4th June 2018, a First Trans Pennine Express Class 185 No. 185148, is seen passing Eaglescliffe, forming service from Middlesbrough to Manchester Airport. From December, these services will start back from Redcar. Laurie Mulrine
TransPennine Express is to extend one of its hourly North East services to Redcar from December.
The announcement came in early September, being hailed by Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen as a “huge step forward” for the region. From the December timetable change, the Manchester Airport to Middlesborough working will continue to Redcar, providing an hourly service, and removing the need to change for many passengers who currently travel from the former steel town to York, Leeds and the Manchester area.
As part of the new timetable, there will be a temporary cessation of services to the Redcar British Steel station, to allow passengers faster and more reliable direct journeys to Redcar Central. The station is unique in Britain in being open for passengers to board and alight services, despite there being no public entrance or exit from the station! Originally provided as part of the development of the British Steel complex at Redcar, the station is sited on land within the Redcar site, which since the collapse of SSI and its consequential closure, means there is no way to reach the access point! Whether the temporary closure will remain temporary or become permanent remains to be seen, although it will not be difficult to put forward the full closure of a station that only be accessed by rail! The last services are due to call at the station on 14th December.
There remain aspirations to extend the TPE service further to reach Saltburn, under a phase two expansion to enhance connectivity through East Cleveland, although there is no current timescale for this to take place.
