Hartlepool railway station (Hartlepool Dock & Railway)

Though the first mineral train along the HD&R reached Hartlepool on 1 January 1835, the first passenger station in Hartlepool was not opened until 1839. Facilities at this first station were initially housed in the hull of a grounded ship before a more permanent building was provided, close to Commercial Street.{{Cite web|title=Hartlepool History Then & Now - Old Hartlepool Railway Station Headland|url=http://www.hhtandn.org/venues/1131/old-hartlepool-railway-station-headland|access-date=31 October 2020|website=Hartlepool History Then & Now}} From 1845, the HD&R leased the Great North of England, Clarence & Hartlepool Junction Railway which had opened a line from a junction with the HD&R at Wingate to {{rws|Ferryhill}} six years earlier. However just a year after the HD&R leased the GNEC&HJR, both companies were leased by the newly formed York & Newcastle Railway, before being amalgamated into its successor, the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway, on 22 July 1848.{{Cite book|title=Teesside Railways A View from the Past|last=Hill|first=Norman|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing Ltd|year=2001|isbn=0711028036|location=Hersham|pages=4, 17, 18, 21, 23 & 27}} Passengers from Hartlepool were first carried over the GNEC&HJR in 1846.{{Cite book|title=Railways of East Durham|last=Hoole|first=Ken|publisher=The Dalesman Publishing Company Ltd|year=1985|isbn=0852068352|location=Clapham, North Yorkshire|pages=10 & 32}}

The York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway was amalgamated with other companies to form the North Eastern Railway in 1854 and in 1877 the NER constructed a line linking the former HD&R directly to the former Stockton & Hartlepool Railway{{Broken anchor|date=2024-07-22|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Clarence Railway#Stockton & Hartlepool Railway|reason= }} in West Hartlepool. As part of the rationalisation of the rail network around Hartlepool, the NER opened a new terminus at Hartlepool, west of the original station, on 16 November 1878 and a new through station at West Hartlepool two years later. Following the opening of the new station, the original one was converted into a goods shed. The growth of West Hartlepool, combined with the decline of "old" Hartlepool led to the diversion of passenger services from the former HD&R and GNEC&HJR lines into West Hartlepool station, leaving Hartlepool as the terminus of a shuttle service between the two towns.

The opening of a parallel steam tramway in 1884, and its later conversion to electric traction in 1899,{{Cite book|last=Klapper|first=Charles Frederick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kA9rJ3cGiJgC|title=The Golden Age of Tramways|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1961}} introduced direct competition to this shuttle service. Hoping to emulate the success of the then recently launched Tyneside Electrics system, the NER first launched their experimental petrol electric autocars on the Hartlepool-West Hartlepool shuttle service in August 1904, hoping that they could provide a frequent (10-minute frequency) 5-minute journey time service{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway - Loco Profile - North Eastern Railway Petrol-Electric Autocar|url=https://www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk/oldsite/nerautocar.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=31 October 2020|website=Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway}} capable of drawing back passengers from the tramway.{{Cite web|title=The 1903 Electric Autocar Trust {{!}} It's what Vincent Raven would've done|url=https://electricautocar.co.uk/|access-date=31 October 2020|website=The 1903 Electric Autocar Trust}} However, only one unit actually saw service on this route and, after further trials on the Port Clarence Branch in early 1905, this unit was transferred to {{rws|Scarborough}} later that year. Nonetheless, even after the NER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1923 grouping, the shuttle continued to attempt to compete with trams and busses. In 1925, the LNER shuttle service consisted of 49 trains per day but by 1939 it had declined to 38, with services then normally operated by LNER Sentinel steam railcars.

However, wartime economy measures led to this service being reduced to just four trains each way from 2 October 1939, a service level which was maintained until public passenger services were withdrawn on 16 June 1947. Even so, the station still continued to handle services for school children until 23 March 1964.{{Cite book|title=North Eastern Railway branch lines since 1925|last=Hoole|first=Ken|publisher=Ian Allan Ltd|year=1978|isbn=0711008299|location=Shepperton|pages=79 & 80}}

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{{Hartlepool–Haswell–Sunderland and Hartlepool–Ferryhill Lines Diagram}}

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Hartlepool Dock & Railway |col={{NER colour}} }}

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West Hartlepool-Hartlepool |col={{LNER colour}} }}

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{{closed stations County Durham}}

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Category:Disused railway stations in the Borough of Hartlepool

Category:Former North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom) stations

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1839

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1947

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