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Teesside airport station

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frodshamfella

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Im sure someone will have asked this before, but why is it that Tees Side Airport, has such a poor rail service, from what I can see just two on a Sunday ! I know Tees Side Airport is not Gatwick or Heathrow, but surely with a station available for an airport, a better service would be warranted, especially to attract passengers to travel to this airport by rail rather than car, which is what must happen mainly now.
 
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tsr

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I believe there are plans to re-site the station so it's closer to the terminal. At present, I understand it's not viable to drop passengers off there because there's no easy way to walk to the main airport facilities and any such walk is too long for some people to do with heavy(ish) luggage.

Once/if this is done, I can well imagine more services will be provided, as it will probably be a more appealing option for passengers.
 

william

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On top of that, passenger numbers have been in decline in recent years due to a number of major airlines pulling out. As a result destinations are limited.
 

MidnightFlyer

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On top of that, passenger numbers have been in decline in recent years due to a number of major airlines pulling out. As a result destinations are limited.

Indeed, according to Wikipedia (which I hate to rely on but my aviation knowledge is very poor), the only two all-year destinations are Aberdeen and Amsterdam! (There are four seasonal ones: Jersey, Alicante, Palma de Mallorca and Tenerife South.)

According to the same page, its passenger numbers also fell by 15% to 192,000 at the last count a couple of years ago.
 

Sidious

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Teesside as an airport is not commercially viable. The current owners are looking to off-load it. The only scheduled flights are KLM to Amsterdam and Eastern Air to Aberdeen. There are charter flights in the summer, but with Leeds-Bradford and Newcastle both about an hour away, there is stiff competition.
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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I suppose that a somewhat generalised comparison can be made with what Blackpool Airport used to be like some twenty years ago, but whereas Blackpool has gradually increased its scope of destinations reached over the years, despite having both Manchester and Liverpool airports in its region, Tees-side Airport has slowly moved into a period of decline, despite the population size in its environs.
 

ainsworth74

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Im sure someone will have asked this before, but why is it that Tees Side Airport, has such a poor rail service, from what I can see just two on a Sunday !

A number of reasons, chief among them that the station is a considerable walk way from the terminal building (on the order of at least fifteen minutes). Once upon a time a bus service was provided that linked the station to the terminal but it was very lightly used. Whilst there are suggestions that the station could be moved closer to the terminal I suspect it's unlikely to happen and if it did, personally, I think it would be a waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere in the region.

Further the airport is barely viable as a passenger airport. Usage has hit rock bottom with only two year round routes and one of them (Amsterdam) carrying the vast majority of passengers. Unless another airline decides to introduce a year round route to another major destination I believe the airport will, in the near future, close it's doors to passengers.

An improved rail service would not attract people to switch from road to rail due to the location of the station itself and it would certainly not attract new users of the airport. To be frank the only reason Northern provide two services per week is because it's easier than going through an official closing procedure.

Also it's Teesside not Tees Side ;)
 

HSTEd

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I keep thinking the best use for Teesside Airport station will be in the distant future if we get High Speed rail to Newcastle and the like.
Its quite a good place for a parkway station, its got no major development in the potential station approaches, its got rail access to a soon to be developed urban railway line and there is vast amounts of space for car parking.
 

fireftrm

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Teesside as an airport is not commercially viable. The current owners are looking to off-load it. The only scheduled flights are KLM to Amsterdam and Eastern Air to Aberdeen. There are charter flights in the summer, but with Leeds-Bradford and Newcastle both about an hour away, there is stiff competition.
The present owner have only recently purchased the airport!!
 

HSTEd

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Which rail line is this?

Isn't there a whole "Tees Valley Metro" thing that is supposed to be going ahead soon using the line that this station is on?

Several trains per hour and all that?
 

frodshamfella

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All very interesting, I dont know the area just assumed the "airport" station was actually at the airport, obviously not given a 15 mins walk. I did fly from Tees Side once years ago on Air UK to Humberside, just took off before the fog closed in and saved be a long drive !
 

ainsworth74

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Isn't there a whole "Tees Valley Metro" thing that is supposed to be going ahead soon using the line that this station is on?

Several trains per hour and all that?

Ha in the far and distant future maybe! Last I heard funding for that had been kicked into the long grass. Also 'Metro' is a misnomer the package would be more akin to a total route modernisation rather than the creation of a 'Metro' style service. The plan was to introduce refurbish existing trains, later to introduce new trains, linespeed/capacity improvements, new stations and so on. Wikipedia is pretty good on the aims, but it's now hopelessly out of date. As all the funding that had been 'secured' according to that article has been, as I said, kicked out into the long grass. The new station at James Cook Hospital is going ahead, and the signalling renewals have been done, but that's about it. Certainly it won't be opening within the timescales laid out there.
 

wintonian

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All very interesting, I dont know the area just assumed the "airport" station was actually at the airport, obviously not given a 15 mins walk. I did fly from Tees Side once years ago on Air UK to Humberside, just took off before the fog closed in and saved be a long drive !

Ah yes but this is airports were talking about.

How close to London is London Oxford airport again? ;)
 

Sidious

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The present owner have only recently purchased the airport!!
If you consider 2004 to be recent, then I agree.

It used to be 100% owned by Durham County Council and Cleveland County Council (50/50 split). The various successor authorities sold a 75% share to Peel Airports Ltd in 2004. In 2010 Vancouver Airport bought a 65% stake in Peel, and they then sold their interest in airport to Peel Investments (DTVA).
 

jkkne

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We shouldn't forget the airport hasn't been called Teesside for nigh on a decade and has the marketing spiel of Durham Tees Valley

When I travelled on one of the Northern services last year the Guard announced it as

'Teesside Airport Station for Durham Tees Valley Airport'

Talk about mixed marketing :D

I don't see the point of extending the service at all, the airport will never attract enough passengers with Leeds, Newcastle and even Edinbugh/Manchester not that far away.

The current owners seem intent on winding services down and securing the valuable land for development
 

fireftrm

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If you consider 2004 to be recent, then I agree.

It used to be 100% owned by Durham County Council and Cleveland County Council (50/50 split). The various successor authorities sold a 75% share to Peel Airports Ltd in 2004. In 2010 Vancouver Airport bought a 65% stake in Peel, and they then sold their interest in airport to Peel Investments (DTVA).

Well as you point out the recent purchasers are Peel Investments, and I think that less than 6 months is pretty recent. 2004 was 8 years ago and that wasn't Peel Investments.......
 

tbtc

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I'd remind anyone of this unused station on Teesside when I hear someone suggest the lightly used airport outside Doncaster deserves a train station. Waste of time.
 
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ainsworth74

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I have removed posts about HS2 and placed them in the existing HS2 thread. I would ask that you continue that discussion there leaving this thread for the discussion of Teesside Airport.
 

JohnCarlson

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Not sure of what future Durham Tees valley airport has although there have been reports of it reinventing itself as a cargo airport.

The station could be re sited close to the main access road to the airport which would also put it close to a small business park and a housing estate but it would still be a long walk to the airport terminal building. Dinsdale station is also close to the housing estate.

There is the additional problem that Darlington station is not that central in Darlington and quite frankly if a Darlington town center Darlington Station/ Tesside Airport/Middlesbrough bus link carnt work I cant see much happening with a train service.

There are some incremental improvements to the Teesside rail system such as a new ticket office at Eggelscliff, James Cook Hospital Station and when the Tees Yard is partial developed as a housing estate a new station is likely to be built there. However the concept of a Tees Valley Metro remains as just a concept.
 

tom1649

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We shouldn't forget the airport hasn't been called Teesside for nigh on a decade and has the marketing spiel of Durham Tees Valley

When I travelled on one of the Northern services last year the Guard announced it as

'Teesside Airport Station for Durham Tees Valley Airport'

Talk about mixed marketing :D

I don't see the point of extending the service at all, the airport will never attract enough passengers with Leeds, Newcastle and even Edinbugh/Manchester not that far away.

The current owners seem intent on winding services down and securing the valuable land for development

Durham Tees Valley doesn't sound as good as Teesside and clearly the change of name hasn't improved the airport's prospects has it?! Along the same line is the recent obsession with prefixing every airport within a hundred mile radius of the capital with "London" e.g. "London Luton".
 

brompton rail

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I'd remind anyone of this unused station on Teesside when I hear someone suggest the lightly used airport outside Doncaster deserves a train station. Waste of time.

Quite right. Doncaster (Finningley) is slightly closer to the railway, but nowhere near adjacent, and though there are a few more flights ( mostly to Poland) the numbers wouldn't be anywhere large enough to maintain a train service. Anyway there is a twice hourly bus service ( journey time under half an hour) to Doncaster station subsidised by the PTE.
 

crispy1978

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To be frank the only reason Northern provide two services per week is because it's easier than going through an official closing procedure.

I've heard quite a few comments about not closing a station because it is not financially viable. Whilst I understand maintenance of Teesside Station would not be epic, what are the costs of an official closing procedure? Can't they just remove the signs and leave the platform, and just not serve the station - or am I missing something?
 

tbtc

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I've heard quite a few comments about not closing a station because it is not financially viable. Whilst I understand maintenance of Teesside Station would not be epic, what are the costs of an official closing procedure? Can't they just remove the signs and leave the platform, and just not serve the station - or am I missing something?

I think it'd have to go through Parliament (?).

Plus the negative press of actually closing a station would be seen as A Bad Thing by the railway (cue lots of petitions/ demands that it is "saved" - must easier to just let it quietly wither away until it only has one service a week (and an equal number of passengers!).

Sounds daft, yes, but such is life on the railways...
 

bluenoxid

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I think it'd have to go through Parliament (?).

Plus the negative press of actually closing a station would be seen as A Bad Thing by the railway (cue lots of petitions/ demands that it is "saved" - must easier to just let it quietly wither away until it only has one service a week (and an equal number of passengers!).

Sounds daft, yes, but such is life on the railways...

It needs a politician with guts and we don't have any with that fight in them.

This railway station should be closed. Whilst we are not looking at astronomic costs, I think the rail industry is spending a lot of money to maintain the thin edge of the wedge.
 

142094

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I'd be surprised if maintenance costs are that high, at most a lick of paint once in a while, and not much else.
 

crispy1978

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Love the "Save the Station" idea - 18 people per year use the station (and they say a few of those are just collectors of "unusual" stations) - but you can imagine a petition with hundreds or thousands of names!!! ;) :D
 

Sidious

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Well as you point out the recent purchasers are Peel Investments, and I think that less than 6 months is pretty recent. 2004 was 8 years ago and that wasn't Peel Investments.......
Without wanting to sound pedantic, transferring a stake holding between different subsidiary companies within the same group hardly counts as a change of ownership in reality, even if it might on paper.

The DTVA website describes Peel's ownership:

In April 2003, Peel Airports reached an agreement with the six local authority shareholders (Durham, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils), to acquire a 75 percent shareholding in the Airport with the local authorities retaining a 25 percent interest in the company. In June 2010, Vantage Airport Group (formerly Vancouver Airport Services) acquired a 65 percent share in Peel Airports, which included DTVA. The six local authorities continue to be shareholders in Durham Tees Valley Airport.

On 10th February 2012, Peel Airports Limited concluded the sale of its majority shareholding in Durham Tees Valley Airport to Peel Investments (DTVA) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Peel Group.
http://www.durhamteesvalleyairport.com/corporate-community/about-us/background-information
 

AndyHudds

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Rather than close it, there are plans to re-site the station closer to the actual airport,making it usable for airport users. There is an article in 'Todays Railways' regarding the area and the line.
 

CarltonA

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This station was underused even when it had a good service. I went through here many times in the early seventies and NEVER saw anyone get on or off. Use it or loose it. The airport's death knell was sounded when BMI dropped it's Heathrow service.
 
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