Interviews and Project Findings:
Traffic and Transport in Darlington

"Darlington is mostly recognized as the birthplace of the railways, which were established by George Stevenson, an English engineer who built and produced a steam engine called the 'Locomotive' in 1829. It ran from Darlington to Stockton and was the first passenger steam train ever to run.

Since then people have improved on his design of the 'passenger train' and it has changed from steam through diesel to electric.

Recently a brick train has been constructed near a local retail park to commemorate his achievement. Some of the money was a donation from the National Lottery."


"My Grandad told me that the traffic has greatly increased since he was a young boy. An example would be, 60 years ago a road in Darlington called Woodlands Road / Bondgate was so quiet you could wait 5-6 minutes to see a car pass, now you have to wait 5-6 minutes to see a gap between the cars. So many people today go everywhere in cars. You don't see many people walking anywhere."


"There was once a railway linking Barnard Castle, Darlington an Middleton before and through the wars, but on 22 January 1962 the section west of the Tees Valley was completely closed. Gradually freight traffic decreased, which meant closure of the railway line, which occured on 30 November 1964, even though a little traffic remaining managed to keep the line open until 5 April 1965.

Nowadays, regular weekday and weekend bus services provide the transportation needed as well as numerous taxi companies, and most people in the town own cars."


"Q: Have there been changes in traffic and transport?

A: There was a lot less traffic on the roads then. My family didn't have a car, only fairly rich families did. Normally we either walked or took the bus. Sometimes we used the tram."

"Q: What differences are there in transport in the last 50 years?

A: Well, in our street there were only about three or four cars and when you see what you have now they weren't up to much, but there were some M.G.s which are quite good cars nowadays.

Q: How have bus fare prices changed?

A: Bus fares have gone up quite a bit in the last 50 years, as when they first came out they were two old pence anywhere, but now they're 25 pence and 50 pence, which is daylight robbery. Soon it'll be cheaper to get a taxi."


"Transport has changed a lot. There is much more on the roads now there are many more private cars on the roads. Public transport has changed also."


"Over the past ten years bus companies have sprung dramatically into action. Less people are using cars and Darlington has more buses in the town centre than any other town in Britain. New bus companies such as Stagecoach have overrun and put out of business smaller companies such as Roadranger. Stagecoach is the most dominant and most popular bus company in Britain at the moment.There is also a down side to the thriving business and this is air pollution. Research shows that if you were to stand in the town centre for an hour and inhale then you would die from carbon monoxide poisoning. That shows how bad the pollution has got over the past ten years."


"Darlington was very busy at one time, due to the main motorway (A1) which used to run through the town center. Then the AIM and the inner ring road St Cuthberts Way were built to reduce the amount of traffic, and to produce easy access and flowing traffic through the town center. There has also been an increase in busses and bus routes. Scheduled pick-ups and drop-offs run frequently all day through the town and surrounding areas, to provide access to town."


"Through the last B-10 years the traffic on Darlington's roads has increased with places such as West Auckland Road, Cockerton, Houghton Road and North Road being heavily congested. To help with this problem a ring road has been built to divert some of the traffic away from some of the small villages which have been hit heavily by traffic."


"After the second world war the Darlington inner ring road was constructed in stages. Lots of houses were demolished and Darlington Borough Council built St. Cuthbert’s Way and St. Augustines Way between 1969 and 1974. It was decided in 1990 not to build the last section. The line of the ring road encloses the present town centre and main shopping area."


"Darlington is famous for its railway museum. People come far and wide just to some of the best-built and most attractive looking trains fn England. The North East has always been an industrial area even in the early days. Darlington's sights include the floral locomotive in the centre of town, and the amazing Darlington Train sculpture near Morton Park. I would seriously advise you to take a look at these brilliant sculptures that represent a lot of Darlington's history. If you decided to visit Darlington in September, the community host the railway carnival. You can expect brilliant trains and even more fascinating information about each of them. Probably the most amazing train that Darlington cherishes dearly and is kept safe in the museum is the locomotive which was built in 1825 by Stephenson."


"Q: Do you think that there are too many cars on the roads in Darlington? Is there any way to solve this problem?

A: Yes, there are far to many cars in the town centre these days. l don't use a car, but l can still see the problem. Car sharing and people using public transport would help, but many jobs and lifestyles require more than one car per family. Also, not all places are accessible by bus and also only come at certain times.

Q: With the history Darlington has with its railways, are you surprised that not many people are opting to use a train any longer?

A: Not really. Now other forms of transport are cheaper, and much more reliable. l think about 40% of all trains are delayed by more than 5 minutes.

Q: Overall, do you think that Darlington has good access to different varieties of transport?

A: Yes, there is a major motorway very close, and an airport within 5 miles. It also has one major railway station and another smaller station as well. For people who like to use bikes there are new cycle paths around some of Darlington."


"Prior to 1825 Darlington was a small Market town. Townspeople could walk to their destinations and public transport was not vital. The railways and the industrial revolution changed this and Darlington soon became a thriving industrial town In 1860 the Darlington Street Railroad opened. This was a horse-drawn tram system with rails laid on the road. It was short-lived and closed in 1865. A proper system of horse-drawn trams was introduced in 1880 and survived until 1904 when electric trams took over. These trams were run not by a tram company but by "Darlington Corporation Light Railway". By 1926 trolley buses were running and 'street railways' ended. The late 1950's saw the establishment of a network of motorbus routes. Nowadays there are frequently-scheduled buses running through all of Darlington. The building of the new ring road eases the traffic in the town centre."