According to the Office of Rail and Road statistics, Middlesbrough railway station is the fourth busiest in the North East region, with 1,466,884 total entries and exits (2023–24 period).

Situated on the Redcar branch line on the southern edge of the new town, a new passenger station was designed by John Middleton, which opened on 26 July 1847.

As the town expanded rapidly southwards during the second half of the nineteenth century, the station was unable to cope with the increased traffic.

[4][5][6] The current station was designed by the North Eastern Railway's chief architect, William Peachey, with an ornate Gothic style frontage.

As part of a major upgrade to the station, platform 2 was extended in the first half of 2021, allowing for a new direct service from Middlesbrough to London King's Cross.

On 13 December 2021, a London North Eastern Railway Class 800 Azuma departed from the station at 07:08, the first direct service to the capital since 1988.

[12][13] The main station layout consists of an entrance hall with ticket office, large concourse/waiting area and two covered platforms that are each subdivided into two sections.

[15][16][17][18] As part of the scheme, Middlesbrough station would have received improved service to Darlington and Saltburn (1–2 to 4 trains per hour) as well as Nunthorpe and Hartlepool, and new rollingstock.

[15] There was also the talk of new platforms at Middlesbrough,[19][20] and a new entrance to the north of the station creating access points for the Boho and Middlehaven developments.

The £40 million project, linking in with the current redevelopment, will be funded by money secured from the scrapping of the HS2 Northern leg and is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

[28] Rolling stock used: Class 185 Desiro LNER operates a once per weekday return service to London King's Cross, calling at Thornaby and York.