Durham railway station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Durham | |||
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|---|---|---|---|
| Location | |||
| Place | Durham | ||
| Local authority | City of Durham | ||
| Operations | |||
| Station code | DHM | ||
| Managed by | National Express East Coast | ||
| Platforms in use | 2 | ||
| Live departures and station information from National Rail | |||
| Annual Rail Passenger Usage | |||
| 2004/05 * | 1.650 million | ||
| National Rail - UK railway stations | |||
| * 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. | |||
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Durham railway station is the railway station for the city of Durham on the East Coast Main Line. The station is managed by National Express East Coast. Despite its small functional capacity the station is a principal stop on the ECML and is called at by most intercity services travelling the route.
The travel time between Durham and London Kings Cross, 254 miles (409 km) south, is around three hours on a high-speed National Express East Coast service.
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[edit] 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 (see image). After the 2006—2008 renovation, the booking hall is now located in the original stone station building.
[edit] History
Originally, Durham was served by three stations and 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 where 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 its famous viaduct 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, around 1870 a new line was built from the existing main line to the new Durham station, then continued to Newcastle via Chester-le-Street. This soon became the main line. The Leamside line declined in importance, and closed along with the Gilesgate branch.
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 was run by London and North Eastern Railway. Not long after the closures, the line was electrified. Today, the station is owned by Network Rail and managed by National Express East Coast.
[edit] 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' 60s building into the original stone building following renovation and repairs.
[edit] Services
Northbound, First Transpennine Express and Northern Rail terminate their services at Newcastle. Edinburgh Waverley and stations further north such as Inverness and Aberdeen are served by National Express East Coast and CrossCountry.
Southbound, National Express East Coast, CrossCountry and TransPennine Express provide services to York with TransPennine services continuing hourly to Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Liverpool Lime Street. CrossCountry services continue to Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central or South West. National Express East Coast provides services to London Kings Cross.
[edit] Gallery
 The Durham Viaduct |
 The northbound platform as seen from a train |
 A HST departing for Newcastle |
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 Coupled Voyager Trains at Durham |
[edit] External links
- Train times and station information for Durham railway station from National Rail
