GREEN LIGHT FOR NEW HORDEN STATION

PLANNING PERMISSION has been granted for a new station at Horden, near Peterlee on the Durham Coast line. The £10.55 million station will have two 100-metre platforms connected by an accessible footbridge, shelters, a 136-space car park and bus stops. A new access road, footpath and cycleway will also be created. Network Rail said on 9 January that initial work was planned to begin ‘during the next few weeks’, with the station set to open in spring 2020 and be served by hourly trains in each direction. It is expected that more than 70,000 passengers will use the station each year. Durham County Council is the lead authority for the project and is providing the bulk of the funding, backed by £4.4 million from the Department for Transport’s New Stations Fund and a grant from the North East Local Enterprise Partnership