TRANSPORT bosses have hailed the news that passenger numbers at Dinsdale station, Middleton St George, have increased by 70 per over the last two years.

The latest round of rail usage statistics for the station also reveal that usage has increased by 300 per cent since Northern Rail began monitoring patronage there in April 2007.

Bosses at Local Motion, Darlington Borough Council’s sustainable travel project, attribute the hike in passenger numbers to improved station facilities and a new, half-hourly service that was introduced in May last year.

The station improvements include new waiting shelters, CCTV, cycle parking, better pedestrian access and new information displays.

They were part of the £4.9m investment in the Tees Valley Rail Line funded by the Department for Transport.

In addition, the new station that has opened at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, means that passengers can reach the hospital in less than an hour, with some services taking as little as 26 minutes.

Since the improvements to both the station and the services, the rail usages figures show that 4,492 passengers used the station in the month from August 17 to September 13, compared to 2,638 people in the same period of 2012.

Councillor David Lyonette, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for transport, is confident the figures will continue to improve over the next 12 months.

He said: “Dinsdale station is an important part of the Darlington and Tees Valley rail network and we’ve shown that investing in stations and services will lead to more people using trains and leaving their cars at home.

“Improving stations further up and down the line will encourage more people to travel by rail and this can only be a good thing for Darlington, South Durham, the Tees Valley and everyone who lives and works here.”

Dinsdale station offers journey times to Darlington of around ten minutes and to Middlesbrough of less than 23 minutes.

The service gives Middleton St George residents better access to jobs, shopping, leisure services and education that may have been previously out of reach for many people.