Business case for rail electrification

The £800,000 sum is part of a wider £3m allocation for the infrastructure project, which seeks to draw up the case for electrification of the route that travels through North Yorkshire and a large section of the Tees Valley.

The £3m formed part of the near £1bn transport fund, agreed by TVCA cabinet back in January 2024. 

TVCA has said that the study is expected to report its findings in 10-12 months. A government web page explained that the award decision date was January 12, 2026, with the estimated contract dates running from February 16 this year to August 15, 2027, with the option to extend for six months.

Currently, nearly the entire rail network in the Tees Valley is diesel-based, with only the section of the East Coast Main Line that passes through Darlington electrified in the region. Grand Central and Northern services that travel across the combined authority use diesel-based trains.

This all matters as the ongoing Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) will deliver major improvements to the line between Manchester and York, including full electrification for passenger and freight trains.

The East Coast Main Line is already fully electrified, which includes the line between York and Northallerton, up to Darlington and beyond.

However, the line from Northallerton to Saltburn is not electrified. This presents a risk to the Tees Valley as electric trains on the Transpennine Route will not be able to travel north of Northallerton towards stations including Yarm, Middlesbrough and Saltburn – as diesel trains currently do. 

The benefit of electrifying this network is that electric trains on the East Coast Main Line and Transpennine Line would be able to extend to the Tees Valley.

This study by Network Rail will look into the options and help build a business case for the electrification to seek intervention and commitment from the National Rail Budget.

Every day, a number of trains from London branch off the East Coast Main Line, shortly after Northallerton, including a handful of Grand Central trains that stop at Eaglescliffe and Hartlepool, before continuing on to Sunderland.

Additionally, one LNER bi-mode train each day – in each direction – comes through the region, calling at Thornaby before terminating at Middlesbrough. 

Regular services to and from Manchester to Redcar, and occasionally Saltburn, pass through the Tees Valley before joining the Transpennine Line further south.

While over a third of the Northallerton to Saltburn route that could be electrified lies outside of the Tees Valley, all the stations that would benefit from the upgrade sit inside the TVCA’s area.

The £978m transport package was originally agreed in early 2024 by TVCA Cabinet, then funding was paused when the Labour government came to office in July of the same year. 11 months later, in June 2025, it was confirmed that TVCA would receive the full allocation.

Other small rail-related projects part of the wider programme included £1m for a feasibility study to examine removing West Dyke Crossing in Redcar, a further million for an East Cleveland rail feasibility study for Saltburn to Boulby line to be opened to passengers, along with another £1m feasibility study that would aim to achieve more services between Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe.