| System: | National Rail |
| Locale: | North Yorkshire County Durham |
| Open: | 2 June 1852 |
| Owner: | National Rail |
| Map: | (Click to expand) |
| Map State: | expanded |
The Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line runs between and stations. It connects the East Coast Main Line to the Tees Valley Line. It was built by the Leeds Northern Railway as part of their main line from to (via and) which opened on 2 June 1852,[1] although the connection to the ECML at the Northallerton end was not opened for a further four years.
The current stations on the line are:
A number of stations that used to serve towns and villages on the line were closed between 1954 and the end of local passenger services over the route on 6 September 1965, with those at Picton, Yarm and Brompton being the last to go. The station at Yarm was subsequently reopened by Regional Railways North East in February 1996.[2]
Most services are run by TransPennine Express between Manchester Airport and Middlesbrough. Services are roughly hourly and call at all stations as part of the North TransPennine route. A further five trains a day in each direction (as of December 2021) by Grand Central serve Northallerton and Eaglescliffe as part of the route between Sunderland and London King's Cross.[3]
The lines also sees use by a variety of heavy freight services to/from Teesside, including petroleum from Port Clarence, steel trains to and from Hartlepool, Scunthorpe and Aldwarke,[4] the Freightliner terminal at Teesport and waste traffic to Wilton EFW.[5]
The line is also part of a diversionary route to Newcastle using the Durham Coast Line when the East Coast Main Line route via Darlington and Durham Is closed.