Middlesbrough railway station revamp costs rise to £125m

In 2020, Tees Valley Conservative Mayor Ben Houchen announced that the station revamp was “fully funded”, with a total of £35m confirmed for redevelopment works.

The total now projected for a new platform three and the associated infrastructure works is listed at £90m, up from £60m just months earlier.

Along with the original £35m for the other works around the station, this means that £125m is being spent on the three phases of improvement at Middlesbrough railway station. 

Middlesbrough Station. Credit: Google Maps. Free for LDRS use.

TVCA said the increased cost reflects current project ambitions, highlighting the impact of the design work and changes to the scope, including “additional work required to strengthen Albert Road Bridge to bring a disused deck back into use”, along with inflationary pressures.

The combined authority also said they are working “closely” with Network Rail, reviewing opportunities through the design process to ensure a “robust cost challenge” on the price.

The revamp outlined in 2020 included the first two phases of works – phase one saw platform two extended in order to accommodate services from London, which were re-introduced back in December 2021.

There is still only one daily return London service a day, when it had been hoped there would be more by this point.

Phase two saw improvement to the station’s appearance and regeneration of the undercroft, creating the new units which should be completed later this year, but completion of this work has been significantly delayed.

Phase three will see the construction of a third platform, which was due to be completed in December 2022, according to 2021 TVCA transport documents.

The current estimation for a completion date is 2028 in what is a six year delay, although the platform three signs are already up around the station. 

Platform three being signposted at Middlesbrough railway station. Credit: Ray Casey. Free for LDRS use

More than a year after platform three was originally meant to be completed, an additional £40m was allocated as part of £978m transport funding for Tees Valley, announced in January 2024, for delivery of platform three at a “faster pace”.

This funding was paused and then re-confirmed in June 2025, with the platform three allocation increasing to £60m.

TVCA has said that the latest updated costs (£90m) were provided by Network Rail in December 2025 and then outlined to TVCA cabinet this month. 

TVCA did not answer if the growing budget for Middlesbrough station is taking a bigger chunk of the £978m, announced back in January 2024, or whether other, previously agreed projects are seeing their funding cut, to enable the budget increases at Middlesbrough station.

A TVCA spokesperson said: “Work is continuing to progress the delivery of next phase in the development of Middlesbrough Station to create a third platform, which will boost capacity, improve network reliability, and enable more frequent direct services to London.

“TVCA is working in collaboration with Network Rail on detailed design work, which has provided the basis for a greater understanding of the anticipated cost of delivery for the project. 

“TVCA remains committed to work with Network Rail and industry partners to ensure the delivery of a new platform 3, which will bring significant benefit in terms of creating additional capacity to improve performance and reliability of existing services.”