'A station fit for the future' - Plans approved for £12million upgrade of Hartlepool Rail Station

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has announced today, Monday, August 1, that planning permission has been approved for the project which will include opening the station’s currently unused second platform, installing new lifts and a new footbridge.

It is said the works will help to boost capacity and enable more services to run from the station which is used by Grand Central and Northern.

Funding for the £12million project was secured by Mayor Houchen, working closely with Hartlepool Borough Council leader Cllr Shane Moore, from a £310million Government pot for local transport priorities.

The station said to be the busiest single-platform station in the UK and the third-biggest station in the region dealing with 650,000 passengers a year before the pandemic.

Mayor Houchen hailed it as the station’s biggest ever transformation.

He said: “Local people have been crying out for years for the second platform at the station to be brought back into service, and working with Shane at the council I am pleased that we are now able to deliver what local people have been asking for for far too long.

"Bringing the new platform back into service will help futureproof the station, unlock the potential to expand critical services including those to and from the capital, and quite simply make getting around much easier.”

Work is set to start in the coming weeks and is due to be completed in time for next year’s Tall Ships Races when thousands of people are expected to visit Hartlepool.

Mayor Houchen added the project supports the ambitions of a planned new Hartlepool Mayoral Development Corporation.

Cllr Shane Moore said: “This is a time of great change in Hartlepool, with a range of fantastic new developments in the pipeline – including the regeneration of the town centre through the £25m Hartlepool Town Deal and the development of a new multi-million pound leisure centre which received planning permission last week.

“Improvements to the town’s transport infrastructure are vital to the success of our plans, so I welcome the progress being made in relation to the railway station and the proposal to reinstate a second through platform and provide other key facilities.”