Darlington Rail Heritage Quarter plan a 'game changer'

The Rail Heritage Quarter will be centred on the original early collection of railway buildings

A "game changing" railway tourist attraction would feature holograms and a theme park-style trip through time, Darlington Council has announced.

The Rail Heritage Quarter, centred on the North Road site where the first passenger rail began, aims to put the town on the "world map".

As well as attracting tourists it would regenerate the area, the council said.

It aims for it to be ready in time to mark the bicentennial of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 2025.

Original locomotives would feature alongside holograms of moving ones

The free museum would use "augmented reality" including holograms of trains coming in and out, busts of rail pioneers George Stephenson and Edward Pease talking to each other, "talking portraits", and "a mirror where you'll see yourself transported on to Victorian station".

A paid-for theme park-type ride where groups will be taken through the ages is also being developed.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said a meeting of Darlington Borough Council's communities and local services scrutiny committee was told is was a mixture of a "destination tourist attraction, a heritage attraction, urban regeneration scheme, and a museum".

The council described the plans as "urban regeneration and heritage celebration at its best"

Ian Thompson, assistant director of community services, said: "It is going to a game changer for that local community and a significant step up.

"By 2025 it will put Darlington and the Tees Valley on the map, and the world map.

"This is where rail started - in effect modern passenger rail began here and it changed the world from here and it started to connect communities around the world.

"The goods shed, the museum which was the original station, the carriage works, are a very early collection of railway buildings that informed what happened thereafter that you don't get anywhere else.

"Nowhere else will have what we will have in terms of that unique attraction."

The attraction aims to bring tourists in from around the world

Councillor Heather Scott, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said: "This is urban regeneration and heritage celebration at its best.

"Darlington has long been known for its engineering excellence both past and present and this will help to showcase our proud history."

It would also mark the bicentennial in 2025 of the Stockton and Darlington Railway

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