A MUCH-VAUNTED Tees Valley rail scheme could be back on track thanks to £4.5m worth of Government green funding.

Work will begin on building a railway station at the region’s biggest hospital, The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, by 2014 after Transport Minister Norman Baker approved funding for the Tees Valley Metro project from the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

Operated by Northern Rail, the station will relieve traffic congestion around the hospital site, which has thousands of visitors every day.

The Metro project aims to make radical improvements to rail travel between Darlington and Teesside and has been several years in the making.

The last Labour Government signed off £4.9m worth of planned improvements to stations at Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe and Thornaby prior to the 2110 General Election, as well as detailed design work.

But the remaining £29m earmarked for the project was shelved when the coalition Government tore up previous funding allocations.

A £9m bid to the Government’s Regional Growth Fund was then rejected last year because of doubts over the project’s economic benefit.

The new cash has been secured by Stockton Borough Council on behalf of Tees Valley Unlimited, the area’s Local Enterprise Partnership.

It will mean improvements such as electronic timetabling, shelters, lighting and seating, as well as CCTV installation at 11 stations in the area – Allens West, Billingham, Gypsy Lane, Longbeck, Marske, Marton, Nunthorpe, Redcar Central, Redcar East, South Bank and Stockton.

Tees Valley Unlimited managing director Stephen Catchpole said the funding would help achieve the “major and long-standing aspiration” of a railway at James Cook hospital, and also lever-in significant private sector funding for the remaining stages of the project, including a new entrance and platforms at Darlington Bank Top Station.

He said: “It will help us realise one of our priority transport ambitions to improve passenger facilities, enhance our existing rail network and support the economic regeneration of the area by increasing the mobility of workers and the accessibility of key sites.”

Stockton South MP James Wharton said the substantial investment was proof Teesside was “punching above its weight”.

Meanwhile, £4.76m has been allocated to a separate scheme involving Durham County Council, which aims to get more children walking to school.

The Living Streets project also hopes to improve health and physical activity.