£6million redevelopment announced for railway station at Teesside International Airport.

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has announced plans to invest £6million into the redevelopment of the railway station at Teesside International Airport.

Mr Houchen is seeking to secure additional service stops at Teesside International Airport railway station as part his “10-year rescue plan” and has vowed to upgrade facilities so the station matches his “long-term vision for a thriving airport”.

In recent years Teesside Airport Station has become one of the UK’s least used.

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The stop welcomed just 74 passengers in 2017/18 but the metro mayor has revealed more bus shuttles and “horizontal escalators” could come to the station in future if passenger numbers climb high enough.

If approved, the £6million funding would allow initial improvement work at the station to begin, including the removal of a platform and the existing footbridge, before further upgrades can take place.

Mr Houchen said: “Last week we announced a host of new flights for our airport, including a twice-daily service to London, which is a massive vote of confidence in our airport and region.

“But if people are to make the most of these flights, they need to be able to get to our airport as easily and quickly as possible.

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“These improvements to the station will not happen overnight, and they are all part of our long-term plan for our airport.

“But as we secure more flights and get more passengers through the terminal, we need modern facilities at the station and we need trains to stop more frequently so more and more people can use the railway as a way of getting to the airport.”

The redevelopment will go ahead if local authority leaders give the green light to the plan on Friday.

A TVCA cabinet report said “there is a need for investment in the existing Teesside International Airport station if it is to remain functional” adding “there is still a degree of uncertainty around the cost of redeveloping the station at this stage”.

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The report estimated the cost of making the current station safe (removal of a platform and the existing footbridge) at around £700,000.

The station upgrade forms part of wider plans to invest almost £40million to improve transport across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool.

Other projects that will be funded include increasing the capacity of Hartlepool Station, introducing disabled access at Billingham Station, improvements to Eaglescliffe Station, and a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge to connect Wynyard Park and Wynyard Village, as well as other improvement work for the A19/A689 junction and additional electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the Tees Valley.

The announcement comes after Mr Houchen confirmed the return of daily flights to London, reconnecting Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool to the capital by air for the first time in 11 years.

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The flights to London City Airport are part of a package of six new destinations across the UK and Ireland that will take off from Teesside International Airport from next month.

A decision on the Teesside Airport Station project will be made on January 31 at the Tees Valley Combined Authority Cabinet meeting in Thornaby.