TRAIN passengers in the Tees Valley area are to benefit from five new railway stations and improvements to existing facilities.

A study has been commissioned to assess the viability of building new stations at Hart in Hartlepool, Old Billingham and Roseworth in Stockton, the Ings in Redcar, and South Cleveland Hospital.

The stations have been included in the local transport plan of the relevant local authorities and have received provisional funding over the next five years.

An initial total cost of £3.5m has been estimated for the stations, but this figure could rise when detailed designs are completed.

Railtrack has started an assessment into the proposed sites to see if the track infrastructure, signalling and engineering in the areas will support new services.

The stations will include facilities such as car parking, lighting and refreshments.

As well as the new stations, a review has taken place of facilities at existing stations in the area.

A spokesman for the Tees Valley Joint Strategy Committee said: "The aim was to collect base-line information and draw up a list of standards to be used as an acceptable minimum for facilities at all Tees Valley stations.

"Key themes such as signing, accessibility, information, parking, security, safety and comfort were assessed at each station."

Following the assessment, a set of new standards has been circulated to all the Tees Valley authorities and rail firm Northern Spirit to ensure better facilities for passengers.

The spokesman said: "It is accompanied by a checklist that shows which standards are met at each station and importantly which are not.

"The draft document supplies the background information behind the results which largely indicate that standards at many stations fall below what is considered to be an acceptable minimum."

Among those stations close to the bottom of the league table were Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, and South Bank, Middlesbrough.

Others included North Road in Darlington and Teesside airport.

The better performers were Yarm, Eaglescliffe and Stockton.

A similar survey will be carried out every year to ensure standards are improved and maintained.