Consett railway station

Last updated

Consett
Consett station site geograph-3153555-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg
Consett railway station site in 1988, after demolition, view northeast towards Annfield Plain
General information
Location Consett, County Durham
England
Coordinates 54°51′04″N1°49′38″W / 54.8510°N 1.8273°W / 54.8510; -1.8273 Coordinates: 54°51′04″N1°49′38″W / 54.8510°N 1.8273°W / 54.8510; -1.8273
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company North Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
17 August 1896Opened
23 May 1955Closed to passengers
2 October 1967Closed to goods

Consett was a railway station built by the North Eastern Railway on the route of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway, in County Durham, North East England. It served the industrial town of Consett, which was best known for its steelworks.

Contents

History

Opened on 17 August 1896 by the North Eastern Railway, it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway during the Grouping of 1923. The station then passed on to the North Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948.

It wasn't the first station to serve the town however, as one had been opened by the NER in 1862 as the terminus of its Lanchester Valley Railway from Durham. [1] This lasted only five years however, the LVR was extended northwards to Newcastle via Lintz Green & Scotswood and a new station was opened at Benfieldside on the northern edge of the town. This was renamed "Consett" in 1882 and again to "Consett & Blackhill" (as it was closer to the latter community) in 1885, before eventually becoming Blackhill when the 1896 depot opened. [1] This station was located on the former S&T route east of the intersection with the Durham - Blackhill - Scotswood line and opened on the same day that passenger trains began running to Newcastle via Annfield Plain and a junction with the East Coast Main Line near Birtley (a chord line having been built by the NER to link the main line with the S&T route where they crossed each other). Travellers from the new station could also use the Derwent Valley line via Blackhill to reach Newcastle by means of a link line between the two routes that had been commissioned in 1893 - this alternative route was actually a couple of miles shorter but had a less frequent service. Facilities were quite basic, with wooden buildings in the middle of the island platform linked via a sloping path to the road overbridge at the eastern end. [1]

Passenger services on the Derwent Valley line via Lintz Green were withdrawn by the British Transport Commission north of Blackhill on 1 February 1954 and those on the line from Ouston Junction to Blackhill followed on 23 May 1955, with the station closing to passenger traffic on that date. [1] Goods traffic continued to be handled at the station until 2 October 1967, the line from Blackhill having closed to all traffic four years previously. [2]

The ex-S&T line through the station latterly remained in use to serve the nearby steelworks until they closed in September 1980 and then subsequently for the demolition trains used to clear the site. The last passenger train (a railtour special) called on 17 March 1984 [3] and the line closed completely shortly afterwards, despite calls to reinstate passenger services from Newcastle to serve the town and the Beamish Museum. The tracks were lifted later that year and the station demolished.

Present and Future

The site of the station and the lines on approach to it were lost when the A692 road was realigned, following the dismantling of the railway through it. [1]

However, in June 2020, MP for North West Durham, Richard Holden, sponsored a bid to the Ideas Fund of the Department for Transport's Restoring Your Railway Fund, hoping to access up to £50,000 to cover the cost of an initial study into the feasibility of restoring a rail link [4] between Consett and Blaydon. [5] In November 2020 it was announced that the requested funds would be provided for such a study into reinstating a rail service between Consett and Newcastle, [6] [7] although it was unclear where the Consett terminus of such a rail link would be located and whether this study would focus on the former Derwent Valley Railway or also include the former S&TR route.

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References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Disused Stations - Consett Disused Stations Site Record; Retrieved 22 April 2016
  2. ↑ Disused Stations - Blackhill Retrieved 22 April 2016
  3. ↑ A brief look at the Tyne Dock - Consett iron ore workings derbysulzers.com; Retrieved 27 September 2013
  4. ↑ Baker, Ed (3 July 2020). "Feasibility Study into New Consett Railway Line Confirmed - Consett Magazine - Consett Deserves Good News". Consett Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  5. ↑ Walker, Jonathan (20 May 2020). "Government will look at plans for new Consett to Newcastle rail or Metro link, says Boris Johnson - Chronicle Live". Chronicle Live. Archived from the original on 28 May 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  6. ↑ National Infrastructure Strategy National Infrastructure Strategy p.41
  7. ↑ "Restoring your railway: successful bids - GOV.UK". GOV.UK. Department for Transport. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Blackhill
Line and station closed		  London and North Eastern Railway
Blackhill-Birtley line 		  Leadgate
Line and station closed
Rowley
Line and station closed		  North Eastern Railway
Stanhope and Tyne Railway 		  Carrhouse
Line and station closed
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