Northallerton North Station

[Legolash2o]

Hi all, what would peoples thoughts be about building a new station on the north side of Northallerton, whilst building a new platform 3 & 4 next the existing station car park?

They have built possibly nearly 1000 homes in the area in the last few years (more incoming), there's no bus services, roads can be very busy and it's a 40 minute walk each way to the main station. Please note Google Satellite has not been updated in a while.

In addition to allowing the new homes to go directly to York, Yarm, Middlesborough, etc. The a new platform 3 & 4 would allow existing services to stop there avoiding conflicts on the main line.

Even if you think it's a rubbish idea, please be constructive in the feedback (i.e. better site locations).

UPDATE: I would suggest just adding a new station and amend the existing passenger schedules to stop there. No new platforms at Northallerton station itself - even if not all services stop there.

 

[swt_passenger]

There’s already a proposed NR plan for a Northallerton rebuild, with additional platform faces, new grade separation of down trains towards Teesside. IIRC they explain why platforms and regular trains on the avoider wouldn’t be acceptable.

We did have a thread covering it back in 2020:

NR suggestions for upgrading Northallerton station/junctions

In this document From Network Rail https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Church-Fenton-to-Newcastle-Strategic-Advice-2020.pdf they suggest that the only way to provide for all future service aspirations is to extend the slow lines through the station, with new platforms on the...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Legolash2o]

There’s already a proposed NR plan for a Northallerton rebuild, with additional platform faces, new grade separation of down trains towards Teesside. IIRC they explain why platforms and regular trains on the avoider wouldn’t be acceptable. We probably have a thread covering it, that I’ll no try and find…

I remember reading that but they've now gone and built a bunch of houses on the proposed area. They may also have to move items they've since built at the station such as a brand new lift. They also have planning that has been approved that builds warehouses on the other side of Darlington Road that would be right next to the main line.

I'll have to dig it out the original document and read it again, although it looks like they've removed it.

EDIT: I found this thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/theoretical-northallerton-station-upgrade.214947/

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2025 ==

The level crossings were identified as an issue in that thread. Could one option be to stagger what would be the new platforms so that when trains arrive, the level crossings behind them close?

A signal would then be put in front of the new platform so that when the train starts, the level crossing in front goes down? I suspect, even then there won't be enough time for the barriers go down before the train reaches them unless they drive very slowly. Non-stopping services would be a nightmare.

In addition, the proposed plans wouldn't be able to include a new Northallerton North station which would benefit all the new homes. The existing PDF seems to have disappeared. I also suspect, they'd never get the funding for all that four-tracking and dive-under that they originally proposed.

I will keep coming up with ideas!

 

[stevieinselby]

Technically there is a bus service to that area – it's run by North Yorkshire Council using one of their own minibuses, and it runs 3 times a day off-peak (4 times on Saturday)

https://northyorkstravel.info/timetable/74Cjun24.pdf

I can't see the station being a good idea, not with the current level of development. It's only just over a mile from Northallerton station, which might be OK for a suburban service but the only trains running on that route are regional express services making a 140 mile journey. They already have too many stops in Teesside but that's largely a function of poor connectivity between different services due to the layout of the network. If they start serving small suburban stations like Northallerton North then the journey will become untenably slow. It would be much better to focus on better local buses across the whole town providing connectivity to the town centre, hospital and railway station.

 

[Legolash2o]

Definitely agree that there needs to be more bus services. Having the first service at 10am when you typically start work at 9am is terrible, especially if you need to get a 7am train service. Then having the last service 13:30-14:00 when people typically finish at 17:00.

It's a town for the elderly who drive everywhere throughout the day. It is changing though
EDIT: The towns' transport is for the elderly who drive everywhere throughout the day. It is changing though.

 

[800001]

If you move the station nearer the new houses, then all you are doing is moving it further away from existing houses?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2025 ==

Definitely agree that there needs to be more bus services. Having the first service at 10am when you typically start work at 9am is terrible, especially if you need to get a 7am train service. Then having the last service 13:30-14:00 when people typically finish at 17:00.

It's a town for the elderly who drive everywhere throughout the day. It is changing though

Town for the elderly? I must be mistaken when ever I see all the younger generation walking out of the houses on all the various estates.

 

[Legolash2o]

If you move the station nearer the new houses, then all you are doing is moving it further away from existing houses?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Apr 2025 ==


Town for the elderly? I must be mistaken when ever I see all the younger generation walking out of the houses on all the various estates.

The station would be in addition to the existing station, and could be built on the Middlesborough line with an extra stop for existing services.

Apologies, elderly was the wrong word.

Northallerton has a rubbish bus service 10:00 to 13:30. Clearly no one has to be at work for 9am according to that schedule or the whole of Northallerton works from home. My partner needs the car meaning my only option to work outside Northallerton is to walk far to the station.

A new station would more easily give access to regional towns, cities, jobs, and shops. It would also help reduce cars around Northallerton and pollution (probably not a lot though).

It's just frustrating that they've built over 1200 homes on the north side of the town, in maybe 3-years, with no new transport so everyone just adds more cars onto the local network - with many houses needing multiple. If you don't have access to the car, it's difficult.

Sorry, I went onto a right rant there I suspect better bus (or minibus) services would be the solution starting at 06:30 maybe, but the new North Yorkshire mayor seem to be interested in York buses, or buses between locations (that in itself isn't bad) rather than within the towns themselves.

 

[Hamma52]

It's an issue that's not isolated to transport connections. Over 1,200 homes and the only new facility of any type that Northallerton has to show for it is a new primary school. There's plans to build an Aldi and a few other shops by the Darlington Road entrance go the new estate, but it's all hypothetical at the moment.

I'm not entirely sure a North Northallerton station is the answer? It'd be incredibly handy for me too, but better bus services seems to be a better solution all round. As pointed out, Northallerton's, and North Yorkshire's in general outside of York, Selby etc, bus service is almost nonexistent.

That said, a larger Northallerton station wouldn't go amiss, given its relative importance as a key junction on the ECML

 

[Bristol LHS]

It's an issue that's not isolated to transport connections. Over 1,200 homes and the only new facility of any type that Northallerton has to show for it is a new primary school. There's plans to build an Aldi and a few other shops by the Darlington Road entrance go the new estate, but it's all hypothetical at the moment.

The new development did pay for the bridge over the line to Yarm at Brompton, which is the first bit of a potential ring road for Northallerton. Plus the allotments and bits of the emerging ‘sports village’ by the leisure centre. And affordable homes via section 106. I wish local government were better funded so that it wasnt reliant on commercial development to deliver these things, but that seems to be where we’re at. I don’t think the old Hambleton Council did a bad job under the constraints they were under. In a sensible country like the Netherlands, HDC and NYC would have compulsory purchased the land at agricultural value, borrowed to build a ring road and facilities, and then sold the land at housing values and used the uplift receipts to pay the debt.

As an aside, I think the answer for connectivity in Northallerton is a much better cycle lane network connecting the suburbs to the High Street and Station. The town is flat as a pancake and the distances are short - 15mins max on a bike. It I isnt big enough to support a proper bus network, especially one that extends over commuting hours, though the daytime pensioner town service could undoubtedly be better.

 

[Legolash2o]

I submitted a FOI request about Northallerton. See attached the document relating to Church Fenton to Newcastle from 2020. They are waiting until June 2025 (government spending review) to see what they can do.

Currently there are no plans to upgrade Northallerton tracks as we do not have any active schemes. This is because we are awaiting the outcome of the Governments spending review, which is likely to be announced in June 2025, when we may have more information.

I ended up writing my own 40-page document with reasoning, site proposals, benefits, disadvantages, the ~18000 potential customers. It also included a proposal for the ECML capacity as well. I even processed a years' worth of data and took note of how often the level crossings were down .

There's no expectation for anything to do be but I did enjoy it. I've attached the document but please note was mostly done just for fun, and there will definitely be better ways to do it.

The thing I didn't like about NR's solution, if I remember correctly, was to keep the avoid line open but also have a new dive-under north of town - adding yet another railway line in the area. If they closed the avoid line then it wouldn't be a problem.

The new development did pay for the bridge over the line to Yarm at Brompton, which is the first bit of a potential ring road for Northallerton. Plus the allotments and bits of the emerging ‘sports village’ by the leisure centre. And affordable homes via section 106. I wish local government were better funded so that it wasnt reliant on commercial development to deliver these things, but that seems to be where we’re at. I don’t think the old Hambleton Council did a bad job under the constraints they were under. In a sensible country like the Netherlands, HDC and NYC would have compulsory purchased the land at agricultural value, borrowed to build a ring road and facilities, and then sold the land at housing values and used the uplift receipts to pay the debt.

Can't disagree with that.

As an aside, I think the answer for connectivity in Northallerton is a much better cycle lane network connecting the suburbs to the High Street and Station. The town is flat as a pancake and the distances are short - 15mins max on a bike. It I isnt big enough to support a proper bus network, especially one that extends over commuting hours, though the daytime pensioner town service could undoubtedly be better.

Cycle connectivity would be great. One crazy, would never get done idea that I had was to sink the avoid line and cover it with a cycle path which would allow cycling straight to the train station. There would be two new platforms within a cutting adjacent to the current car park - between Boroughbridge and Romanby Road. There is the beck that runs nearby though which would make it harder. But... this would:

• Add a new cycle route within the town so that the expanding northern part of the town have a safe cycle or walking route.
• Close three level crossings in the town improving traffic flow and reduce road pollution.
• Divert Northallerton stops from Middlesborough and beyond to two new platforms within a cutting, increasing capacity on the ECML.