Echo Comment on more delays to the completion of Bank Top station

On May 15, rail minister Lord Hendy was brought up to Darlington to officially open the ultra-modern extension, but four months later, the approaches are still an eyesore with no completion date until next spring.

With ugly red emergency fencing drawing every visitor’s attention to the crash barriers and the weeds, it does not create the impression that the town, which is trying to position itself as the No 11 of the north, is vibrant and on top of things.

Indeed, the Bank Top station extension was initially planned to be open in time for the railway bicentenary in September 2025, but, as delays are expected for anything to do with British trains, that was pushed back to December 2025 and then to spring 2026 and now it seems the chaos is to continue until spring 2027.

There are already misgivings in the town about the development – the new long platforms are brutally exposed in bad weather while the old, atmospheric and covered station feels underused – and the eyesore that now greets people is not winning over any hearts.

There is bickering between the combined authority and the council over who is to blame for the delays but you would have thought that an adequate drainage system should have been planned a lot earlier in the process.

Those waiting in traffic queues cannot do much to hurry up the process but they can marvel at how even in the birthplace of the railways we cannot complete a station project on time and on budget while keeping local people on track.