Milestone for Darlington station overhaul

The eastern concourse building, a major part of the £140m redevelopment, has been handed over to Network Rail by main contractor Willmott Dixon.

The building will now be fitted out with shop units and amenities and is expected to be ready to welcome passengers from late 2025.

Darlington’s station project also includes two new platforms, a 650-space multi-storey car park, a transport interchange and an improved western entrance.

The new eastern concourse will connect through to the historic station via an elevated walkway.

Broadly the concourse building and car park come under the banner of ‘work site one’ and the internal works at the existing station as ‘work site two’ where Aecom is the designer and BAM the main contractor.

New visuals were released this summer outlining how the internal changes will look.

Tees Valley Combined Authority is providing £43m to the whole station project. Credit: TVCA

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “This transformative project will provide Darlington passengers with the station they deserve while helping to boost the number of services we’re able to provide across our region and securing national rail links to and from Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

“We look forward to progress continuing at pace and for the full transformation project being finished next year as we celebrate 200 years of the railways.”

The redevelopment is being delivered in a partnership with the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority, Network Rail, LNER and Darlington Council.

The project seeks to unlock capacity constraints by reducing the need for trains – particularly local and southbound services – to cross over the East Coast Main Line to enter the existing station.

BAM will now take forward the next fit out phase while Willmott Dixon is continuing work to the adjacent car park and interchange.

Work to pave the way for the new walkway’s installation is well under way – with the wider station overhaul on track for completion before the end of 2025.

The TVCA funding amounts to £43m while Network Rail and the Department for Transport have put £96m towards the project.

Luke Durston, Network Rail principal programme sponsor, said: “This is a real ‘handing of the baton’ moment in the £140m transformation of Darlington station. We thank Tees Valley Combined Authority for the best start possible in our joint race to bring a better train service to the region and build state-of-the-art station facilities for passengers.”

Simon Bywater, construction manager at Willmott Dixon, said: “We’re enormously proud to have worked alongside Tees Valley Combined Authority to deliver this modern and vibrant gateway to Darlington.

“Our local team have completed more than 25 projects for the people of the Tees Valley, and Darlington Station Gateway showcases our ongoing commitment to changing lives and creating opportunities for local people.”