Eaglescliffe railway station

Infobox UK station
name = Eaglescliffe
code = EAG


manager = Northern Rail
locale = Eaglescliffe
borough = Stockton-on-Tees
start = 25 January 1853
platforms = 2
lowusage0405 = 54,555
lowusage0506 = 60,238
lowusage0607 = 65,522
latitude = 54.529
longitude = -1.349

Eaglescliffe railway station serves the town of Eaglescliffe in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is located on the Tees Valley Line at the junction with the Northallerton-Eaglescliffe Line and is operated by Northern Rail. Direct intercity services are provided by Grand Central between London and Sunderland.

History

Eaglescliffe Station was the second station to be built along Yarm Road and deviates from the original course of the Stockton and Darlington Railway being the world's first passenger railway service. Originally the line ran on the east side of Yarm Road through Preston Hall (now more commonly known as Preston Park. However it is said that Lord Preston was so unhappy at the disruption that trains such as Locomotion No. 1 caused to his cattle he insisted that it be moved to the other side of the road.

The railway station that served the parishes of Preston and Egglescliffe was called Preston, however the railway owners displeased at the cost of moving the railway decided to name the new station after Egglescliffe instead of Preston. It was opened on 25 January 1853, some six months after the "Leeds Northern Railway" had opened their line from Northallerton (on 2 June 1852). This newer route ran alongside the original S&D line, which had its alignment altered to allow easy interchange between the two. [Body, p.66] Originally it had four platforms, but the western pair were taken out of use in the late 1960s and subsequently removed.

The new station became known as Eaglescliffe. There are various different stories as to how the station got the name Eaglescliffe instead of Egglescliffe as intended. One such avenue of stories is that the signwriter was sent a telegram to paint the sign 'Eaglescliffe' due to an error and another variant was that the signwriter thought there must have been an error and changed the name himself.

In each variation of the story it is said that the sign was not changed for a period of time by which time the station became known as Eaglescliffe and the surrounding area has taken the name.

ervices

Trains run twice hourly to Middlesbrough and Saltburn eastbound and to Darlington westbound, with certain trains extended to Bishop Auckland (every two hours, increasing to hourly at peak periods). Three daily Grand Central services between Sunderland and London Kings Cross also call. There is an hourly service on Sundays to Darlington & Saltburn and every two hours to Bishop Auckland.

Notes

References

*Body, G. (1988), "PSL Field Guides - Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2", Patrick Stephens Ltd, Wellingborough, ISBN 1-85260-072-1

External links