Teesside Airport Station: Ben Houchen rules out relocation plan

Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) wants to boost passenger numbers at the station

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen has dismissed suggestions one of the UK's least-used railway stations could be relocated.

Teesside Airport Station is more than half a mile (1km) from Durham Tees Valley Airport and used by only a handful of passengers a year.

A transport officer had suggested plans to move the station were being discussed.

But Mr Houchen said the idea had been ruled out months ago.

Upgrading the station to better link it to the terminal is the way to boost passenger numbers, he added.

In 2017-18 the station welcomed an estimated 74 passengers and just 32 the previous year.

Transport officer Steve Payne told a meeting he wanted to bring the station back into "some sort of meaningful use", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

He also said moving it closer to the airport terminal was considered at one stage.

But Conservative mayor Mr Houchen said: "Let me clear up any confusion, we are not moving the station and there aren't any proposals to move the station. 

"It would cost more to move the station closer to the terminal than it would to move the terminal closer to the airport. 

"We are looking at options on how to upgrade the current station - including shuttles and horizontal escalators - to link it more effectively with the terminal."

The airport was brought back into public ownership earlier this year as part of the combined authority's £588m 10-year investment plan. 

Airport operator Stobart and TVCA bosses want to boost passenger numbers beyond one million by 2022.