blog

New Chairman

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:01:54 +0100

It gives me the greatest of pleasures to announce myself as the new Chairman of the Bishop Auckland Station Trust.

This is an exciting time to be involved with our little station as Durham County Council are to totally rejuvenate the station buildings as a "Travel Hub", a one stop information point on how to get around the county and further afield by public transport. Public Transport is my passion, I have held an interest in the subject since childhood and Bishop Auckland is fortunate to be still connected to the National Rail network as the infamous Dr. Beeching in the 1960s had earmarked the station for total closure - today, we have a reliable, quick and affordable rail service that we as a Trust look forward to promoting with the County Council and the Bishop Line Community Rail Partnership.

The establishment of the hub will provide toilet facilities and a covered waiting area, something which we have campaigned for since the creation of the Trust.

We are more than "trainspotting gardeners".....yes, we do maintain the floral displays (which I must apologise for as they are looking a little sorry at the moment) but we also want to act as your voice as the users of the station and service and generally encourage use of this valuable resource of our fine town.

Please feel free to get in touch if you can feel you can assist us in any way, there will be regular updates on here as to our activities.

The final words however, must go to the founder of the Station Trust, Michael O'Neill. Without him we would not exist, and I can only hope to emulate his enthusiasm for the service and the station.

With the kindest of regards,

Stuart Gray

Chairman-Bishop Auckland Station Trust

WHY?

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 08:57:07 +0100

ANDALS are undermining efforts to save a North-East rail service.

The Bishop Auckland to Darlington service is under threat after cash subsidies for it were withdrawn.

Darlington Borough Council withdrew funding earlier this year and Durham County Council has only allocated money until the end of December.

Campaigners fear the service will be axed by operators Northern Rail if council cash disappears.

A campaign, launched by the Bishop Auckland Station Trust, has received the backing of local MP, Helen Goodman.

But trust members, who have been busy renovating the station, say their work is being undone by the vandals.

Yobs smashed four hanging baskets on Saturday night and have previously sprayed graffiti on the station’s newlypainted walls.

Trust president Michael O’Neill said: “It makes you angry because we work so hard to make the station a nice place, but some people just want to spoil it all.

“The vast majority of people support the station – it’s just a shame there is always this small group who want to ruin it.

“We want to protect the Sunday service and for that we need people to care about the station and the trains that come and go from here.”

So far, more than 250 people have signed a petition and campaigners will soon be collecting signatures onboard the trains.

Ms Goodman has written to Ian Bevan, managing director of York-based Northern Rail, and described the service as a vital link.

“This service is particularly important at the present as we have just led a successful campaign to save the Zurbaran paintings and Auckland Castle from being sold,”

she wrote. “The significance of the paintings and the castle have been identified as the foundation on which to develop a major tourist attraction in Bishop Auckland.

“Any decision to remove important transport connections at this time would be both premature and unfortunate.”

Save Our Sunday Service petitions can be signed at The Northern Echo’s office in Newgate Street, Zair’s cafe in Fore Bondgate, the Four Clocks Centre, Town Hall and station cafe.

A little update

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 11:01:29 +0100

Hello hope you are all fine,

We are doing brilliant at the moment although we are getting graffiti problems but we will get round that quickly.
We're are still trying to make Bishop Auckland station a better place and are going to open a stall on the food festival day at the station. If you would like to come down to buy some food everyone is welcome to the food festival 10am to 4pm. The train is running that day if you don't wont to worry about your car getting clamped or a £60 fine, just hope on the 9:20 train or another during the day.

How about you come to our next meeting the 28th of April and then every 3rd Thursday of the month, apart from August, at the Rafa Club on Cockton Hill in Bishop Auckland.

hope to see you there

posted by Alex Tighe