UK: Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has announced plans to build a £150m rail and bus interchange to serve the Teesside Park retail site in Stockton, as well as for a £20m replacement of Teesside Airport station and improvements at Thornaby.
‘Teesside Park is one of the most popular destinations for people to shop, eat out and work but transport to and from it needs to be improved’, said Houchen in December. ’We’ve all but completed Middlesbrough and Hartlepool station overhauls and the amazing work at Darlington station is creating a gateway our region can be proud of.
’The new rail and bus interchange will also link in with plans for a Care & Health Innovation Zone at the Tees Marshalling Yards, meaning people will have access to the high-quality jobs created there, as well as better connectivity to Teesside Park.
’On top of the new Teesside Park link, we also want to transform Thornaby station — making it a station fit for people north and south of the river in the heart of Teesside, especially given the number of services that pass through.’
Houchen has also announced a £20m plan for a ‘fit-for-purpose’ station at Teesside Airport; services to the current station have been suspended since 2022.
‘As a serious airport we need a working rail link that passengers can use to get to the airport, and with the current state of the train station this is simply not possible’, he said. ’This investment is another step towards making our fantastic local airport sustainable for the long-term.’
