The station is unstaffed but has a ticket machine. New fully lit waiting shelters, digital information screens and CCTV cameras have been installed here whilst the long-line public address system has been renewed and upgraded with pre-recorded train announcements; train running information can also be obtained by telephone, a customer help point and timetable poster boards. The only access to the island platform is via a stepped footbridge, so it is not accessible for wheelchair or mobility-impaired passengers.
History
The station is a modern-style halt on the line and was opened on Monday 7 November 1966 to replace the town's original larger grander station located further west towards Norton; this closed the previous day and was subsequently demolished in the early 1970s. It was located next to the level crossing carrying the old route of the A19 across the railway. Only the signal box and footbridge survive on the site of the original station. The new Billingham station of British Rail was provided with a booking hall, waiting room, parcels office and lavatories. These facilities were lost when the station was reduced to unstaffed halt status towards the end of the 1960s. The station building of 1966 still stands, and was used as the office of local taxi company Binks Taxis, but is now unoccupied. The Tees Valley Rail Strategy calls for the re-opening of the original station as 'Old Billingham' as a new additional station on the Durham Coast Line. However, the plans have yet to come to fruition.
Accidents and incidents
On 2 December 1953, a train ran off the end of the loop and was derailed. An express freight train then ran into the wreckage and was also derailed.
Services
The station has a basic hourly service in each direction on weekdays, northwards to Hartlepool, Sunderland and Newcastle and southwards to Middlesbrough. Most northbound trains continue onto the Tyne Valley line to and, whilst southbound trains are usually extended to and from . Sundays see an hourly service each between Nunthorpe/Middlesbrough and Newcastle and two additional direct services to/from . Three southbound trains run to via the Esk Valley Line.
