RURAL communities in County Durham could soon benefit from the re-opening of a historic railway line after the resurrection project received a significant financial boost from the government to move the ‘transformative’ scheme forward.
Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps MP, has approved the Weardale Line Ideas Fund Grant application and agreed to provide up to 75 per cent of the total cost of providing a feasibility study to investigate the scheme – totalling £50,000.
Now that the funding has become a reality, Durham County Council will now work to deliver a strategic outline business case for the Weardale Line, bringing it a step closer to it becoming a reality for areas such as Crook and Weardale.
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Under the proposals, the Weardale Line will travel from a new planned station at Wearhead before heading on to, Eastgate, Stanhope, Frosterley, Wolsingham, Witton-le-Wear, a new station in Crook.
It will then meet the Bishop Line at Bishop Auckland and continue to Shildon, Newton Aycliffe, Heighington, a new station at Burtree Garden Village and ending in Darlington.
The scheme’s objective is to increase connectivity along the Darlington/Weardale corridor by bringing public service trains the full length of the 31-mile line from Darlington to the top of Weardale.
This will incorporate the current 19-mile Weardale Railway heritage line with the 12-mile Bishop Line, while maintaining heritage services with a link to Crook providing train access to for the first time in decades to tens of thousands of people in rural County Durham.
Passenger services west of Bishop Auckland were withdrawn in the 1950’s, pre-empting the ‘Beeching’ rationalisation in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
Freight services remained until the 1990’s, supported by the limestone quarry at Eastgate.
Heritage railway operation by the Weardale Railway between Stanhope (east of Eastgate) and Bishop Auckland commenced in 2010.
In March 2020, the Weardale Railway was purchased by The Auckland Project (TAP) as part of its wider regeneration programme to create opportunities and drive investment in the area.
The communities from Darlington to Weardale suffer the consequences of the collapse of traditional industries with subsequent economic and social problems.
Whilst there is positive progress along the corridor, including Aycliffe Business Park/Hitachi, and TAP’s ongoing commitment establishing Bishop Auckland’s major tourism offer as a hub in County Durham, public transport connections between them are poor and reliant on private car use, according to project leaders.
The main aims of the Weardale line are to:
- Reconnect isolated communities in Weardale, to the Bishop Auckland/Newton Aycliffe/Darlington corridor.
- Enhance access to employment, especially for those without access to private transport.
- Enable access to Further Education at Darlington College, The University Technical College in Newton Aycliffe and Bishop Auckland College. This will improve skills for entry into the employment market.
- Provide a low carbon transport alternative to private car use, for existing and future travel patterns, potentially using green hydrogen trains in a national testbed of the technology.
- Link to the redeveloped Darlington station and future High Speed Rail phases and Northern Powerhouse Rail strategy.
- Realise tourism potential, linking to the bi-centenary anniversary of the Darlington to Stockton Railway and interchange opportunities with the Weardale Heritage Railway. Also, to sustainably serve the Bishop Auckland visitor attractions which are projected to attract 1.5m visitors a year.
Following the announcement of the £50,000 pledged, Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, has welcomed the investment for the feasibility study.
He said: “For decades services have been removed from our towns and villages. I was elected on a mandate to start reversing this and this is exactly what I’m doing.
“This scheme would be a huge boost for local businesses, employment and educational opportunities and would increase tourism in our area and builds upon my recent work to see improved bus services and better connections between Consett and the Tyne and that’s why I’m so delighted that this initial feasibility study has got the go-ahead.
“This is part of my continuing campaign to Level Up transport in North West Durham and I am glad the Government and Secretary of State for Transport has backed County Durham continually with investment – this cash for the Weardale Line is the latest positive step in that direction.”
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