[otd] 3.10.1971 / Teeside Airport Station - life of just 52 years

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Teeside Station - 1971 (3rd October)  - 2022 (? formal closure ?)

[Ralph Ayres]

The National Rail website still says "Tees-side Airport station is closed until further notice due to urgent repairs to the railway" and I can't find any reference to formal closure online.  Wikipedia is I suspect correct in saying that the footbridge was closed to save maintenance costs removing access to one platform, and the platform on the non-bridge side is deemed unsafe.  It's all been a farce for many years and demonstrates how the formal closure process which is meant to prevent stations being closed on a whim is not fit for purpose. As well as nonsense like this and Pilning it leads to stations that serve little purpose and probably aren't worth the cost of maintaining them staying open because the closure process is so cumbersome (see Buckenham et al).

[grahame]

I got off the weekly train at Teeside Airport a few years back - it must have been summer of 2019 - and walked to Dinsdale. A very interesting experience.  A stations that was clearly not making economic sense at the time, which was not all that long after the footbridge was closed.   A fair step from the airport passenger terminal, which in any case had few if any commercial flights anyway, and to which the road from the station was barriered off involving a long waling detour anyway. Facilities at the station which suggested aspirations at the time it was opened; access only into the airport's outer areas and no way onto the main road that was parallel to the station an no but a few yards away.

[grahame]

Teeside Station - 1971 (3rd October)  - 2022 (? formal closure ?)

No - it appears NOT formally closed and to be rebuilt (part of the HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) cancellation bonus)

Hear and see on Instagram or read on Teeside Live

Plans have been announced to build a new fit-for-purpose railway station at Teesside International Airport.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has committed £20million to the cause and says the investment will see a fully accessible station installed at the airport. The current station has regularly featured among the least used in the country in recent years, with National Rail stating that it is currently "closed until further notice due to urgent repairs to the railway."

Announcing the plans, Mr Houchen said: “In the past few years, we have saved the airport from closure, invested in our terminal which has helped us attract amazing holiday flights to Alicante, Faro, and Corfu to name just a few. These improvements have also allowed us to provide a level of service to our passengers which has seen us win two national awards.

“We are ahead of schedule on our plan to turn things around, and the next phase of development following the opening of our business park and cargo facility, will see us build a new station at the airport. As a serious airport we need a working rail link that passengers can use to get to the airport, and with the current state of the train station this is simply not possible."

“This investment is another step towards making our fantastic local airport sustainable for the long-term and is only possible following the £1billion we received from government following the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2.”

[IndustryInsider]

Good to hear.  If there’s enough airport passengers to justify it, and improvements are made to connectivity between platforms and terminal, then a decent frequency 2tph service passes through that could easily stop.

[grahame]

Good to hear.  If there’s enough airport passengers to justify it, and improvements are made to connectivity between platforms and terminal, then a decent frequency 2tph service passes through that could easily stop.

Been there ... and the connectivity was awful ... with trains AND  connectivity it could work.

I tend to look at stations by their MP^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) ... this one's on the boundary between three:
Paul Howell is the Conservative MP for Sedgefield (4,513 majority)
Peter Gibson is the Conservative MP for Darlington (3,294 majority)
Rishi Sunak is the Conservative MP for Richmond   (27,210 majority)

[johnneyw]

It does look like the line is an awfully long way from the airport buildings..... especially with luggage and/or children.  I'm presuming that "connectivity" would mean a shuttle bus service timed to connect with train arrivals and departures.

[grahame]

It does look like the line is an awfully long way from the airport buildings..... especially with luggage and/or children.  I'm presuming that "connectivity" would mean a shuttle bus service timed to connect with train arrivals and departures.

There's a roadway to the station and with a turning circle there for a bus ... but buses, trains (apart from the weekly one on Sunday morning) and passenger flights were all absent.  A dismal and desolate walk through the outskirts of the freight warehouses and flying and fire training schools to a fence protecting the terminal from these bleak areas.

The station backs on to the passing trunk road, but is totally inaccessible from it.  A very strange station; if all three components are put into place it could work - just don't count the CO2.

[IndustryInsider]

Talk of a bus shuttle service and even travelators:

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/shuttles-horizontal-escalators-among-options-16560682

All would depend on further growth in flights from the airport I guess. 

[CyclingSid]

Should get support from one of the MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) who is partial to using private/executive jets. If he is still around.

[ellendune]

Should get support from one of the MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament, or Mile Post - a method of measuring the railway in miles and chains from a starting point - usually London, depending on context) who is partial to using private/executive jets. If he is still around.

What him use a train!  He might met real people. No he will require a chopper for his onward journey.