Students’ summer success in Darlington station art competition

(Press release Network Rail:) Four young artists have won the chance to have their designs displayed on construction hoardings inside Darlington station during its multi-million-pound upgrade.

Ahead of the summer holidays, students in years 7, 8 and 9 at Wyvern Academy created artwork with the theme of ‘rail through the ages’ and competed for their creations to be seen by thousands of rail passengers from this autumn.

Before the end of term on Thursday 18 July, the competition winners visited the station to see where their designs will be supersized and put on display in September.

They were joined by their art teacher and careers advisor and met workers from contractor BAM Nuttall, who are currently working inside the existing station and organised the art competition, supported by Network Rail.

Jo Hall, BAM Nuttall social sustainability coordinator, said: ‘It’s been great to work with Wyvern Academy and get its students engaged and involved with our work to transform their local station, and see how enthusiastic they are about this major investment for Darlington. School kids don’t usually wish away their long summer break, but our winning entrants certainly are looking forward to coming back and seeing their work on prominent display for thousands of rail passengers in the station.’

Luke Durston, Network Rail principal programme sponsor, said: ‘There are lots of changes happening inside Darlington station at the moment, so it’s great these eye-catching designs will go on display for passengers making their journeys. We’d like to thank people for their continued patience while we carry out these transformational upgrades at Darlington. We’ll continue to work closely with station operator LNER to make people’s journeys as smooth as possible during construction.’

The £140m upgrade to Darlington station is a partnership project between Network Rail, Tees Valley Combined Authority, station operator LNER, Darlington Borough Council and the Department for Transport.

Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor, said: ‘We’re creating a modern gateway Darlington can be proud of – and it’s great to see our future generations literally making their mark on our station. Be it through big projects like this one, new jobs in the civil service or by taking on the creative arts, we always want to inspire our young people and help them pursue good careers close to home. This art is yet another reminder of the rich talent we have.’

The major upgrades at Darlington station are being delivered across two main work sites:

• Work site one has seen Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) invest £36 million to build a new station concourse building and multi-storey car park to the East of the Grade II listed station. This work is nearing completion ready to be handed over by TVCA’s contractor Wilmott Dixon in the coming months to Network Rail which will then take on the fit out.
• Work site two involves a £98 million investment by Network Rail and the Department for Transport to build two new platforms, new track, railway layout, and signalling systems to improve rail connectivity and performance across the North East, along with a fully accessible link bridge from the existing station building to the new Phase One concourse building.

For more information on the Darlington station upgrade you can visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/east-coast/darlington-station-upgrades/

Click here for the original press release.