There’s a fine line between preserving history and letting things go to ruin. While it would be great if we could keep gorgeous old buildings exactly the same forever, steel rusts and wood rots and there’s nothing fun about a building that gives you sepsis.
Darlington train station was first built in the late nineteenth century, and has looked pretty much the same ever since. It earned Grade II listed status in 1977 thanks to its classic Victorian charm, but more recently it has had a tough few years as an active construction site alongside its duties as a train station. It was also supposed to be on the route for the northern half of HS2, but that’s not happening any longer, so it definitely deserves some good news.
And good news Darlington has received. Works started on the station last year to refurbish it, and imagery has recently been released of what the finished thing will look like so you can really start to get excited. Designers have incorporated the station’s history into its makeover, creating what will be a pretty cool mixture of old and new when it’s all done.
A whopping £140 million is being spent on a multi-storey car park, two extra platforms and a new staircase. A representative from Network Rail said that, ‘While it’s great that work at Darlington is really ramping up, sometimes it’s hard to see beyond the hoardings and construction sites.
‘These new images do exactly that and we’re really excited to unveil them to passengers and local people.’
Here’s your sneak peak.
Pretty swish, eh? The station is set to be finished next year, so we don’t have too long to wait now. Hopefully it looks as good as it does in the photos – we’re sure the Victorians would be proud.
Transport in the UK
There’s always loads going on in the world of UK transport, such as the worst traffic we’ve had since 2015 striking our roads this weekend, this tunnel that has been proposed to connect the USA and the UK, and the latest information about ongoing strikes.
Did you see that rat-sized spiders are invading the UK?
Plus: a Cornwall museum filled with 7,000 shipwreck treasures is for sale.
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.