Great Ayton is a railway station on the

Esk Valley Line The Esk Valley Line is a railway line located in the north of England, covering a total distance of approximately , running from Middlesbrough to Whitby. The line follows the course of the River Esk for much of its eastern half. The Esk Vall ...

, which runs between

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

via

Nunthorpe Nunthorpe is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Yorkshire, North Riding. It is near to the villa ...

. The station, situated south-east of Middlesbrough, serves the village of

Great Ayton Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees) flows through the village, which lies just north of the North York Moors. According to the 2021 Census, the parish has a popu ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. It is owned by

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...

and managed by

Northern Trains Northern Trains, Trade name, trading as Northern, is a British train operating company that operates Commuter rail, commuter and Inter-city rail, medium-distance intercity services in the North of England. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Dep ...

History

On 1 June 1864, the North Eastern Railway opened a short line which linked , on their route between Picton and , with on the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway – a subsidiary of the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...

. This link line was initially used solely by mineral trains. Passenger trains along the route began four years later, and a station at ''Great Ayton'' was opened on 1 April 1868. The station is on the single track rail line between and and there are only a few trains per day. The goods yard at the station closed down in July 1965 along with many other stations on the Esk Valley line. Until the 1950s, trains used to run from the station to

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. An Wards and ...

Whitby Town Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football. Founded in 1880, Whitby are one of the oldest clubs from the Nor ...

and but only the latter two destinations are now served. Next to Great Ayton station is the village garage and towing service. The station had, until 1934, a full station building complete with booking office and waiting room, this however was demolished to save costs.

Services

As of the May 2021 timetable change, the station is served by five trains per day (four on Sunday) towards

, with two trains per day (Monday to Saturday) running as far as

Battersby Battersby is a hamlet in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, east of Stokesley, and south-west of Kildale. The settlement is ...

. Heading towards

via

, there are seven trains per day (four on Sunday). Most trains continue to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

via

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

. All services are operated by

. Rolling stock used: Class 156 ''Super Sprinter'' and Class 158 ''Express Sprinter''

References

External links

* * {{Railway stations served by Northern Trains Railway stations in North Yorkshire DfT Category F2 stations Former North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1868 Railway stations served by Northern 1868 establishments in England Great Ayton