UNION bosses are urging caution with a multi-million-pound plan to redevelop Darlington’s Bank Top Railway Station.

Plans for a £150m investment of the historic station were unveiled last year to upgrade it to be at the heart of services connecting the East Coast mainline, and could also become an integral part of the Government’s HS2 network.

Darlington 2025 will feature a remodelling of the station as well as the creation of dedicated platforms for local connections and future high-speed services.

However, Darlington branch secretary of rail union Aslef, John Clark, is calling on Darlington Borough Council and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to not sacrifice local services for HS2.

He said: "The proposals for the station will mean that the service between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn will have to be split in two because they don't want trains crossing the East Coast mainline.

"They talk about future-proofing services but how are they doing that if they are making changes to an important commuter route for local residents?

"We are all in favour of the redevelopment of the station but we believe we can help them to come up with plans to ensure that everyone benefits from the improvements – not just people using the East Coast mainline."

The regeneration is hoped to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of the railways in 2025.

However, the union's Darlington branch vice-chairman, Lee Norman, believes that the potential changes to services could kill off local commuter services.

He said: "Railway services were at the heart of social mobility for decades and these changes could make it really difficult for people living in Newton Aycliffe to get to work in Middlesbrough and vice-versa.

"We have some ideas of solving the problem but we need the local authorities to listen to us."